A Boundary Crossed
by SonicLover
Summary: An overdone but enjoyable concept. It's common to hit your head on something and fall unconscious, but it's not so common to wake up in Emerald Town. A quote from one of my other stories is at the end of almost every chapter. COMPLETE
1. Headache

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: Well, yeah. I know this kind of thing is kind of overdone, but "overdone" is relative. What's overdone to some people can be perfect to others. And I'm not just talking about hamburgers here.

-

Chapter 1: Headache

-

The day began like any other. I was riding my bike through the suburbs, looking left and right as I rode. I ran over a few broken tree branches; I liked the sound it made as the tires crushed them.

A man down the street had chosen this day to trim some of the branches from the trees in his yard (as I later found out). This does not seem important, but you can never tell this early in a story what's important and what isn't.

I stopped my bike in front of this man's yard. I leaned my bike up against a mailbox, took off my helmet and hung it on the bars, and began to get a drink from my water bottle.

The man didn't notice me, and I didn't notice him. He cut one particularly massive branch, and it fell and hit me in the head. I remained conscious for a moment longer, then I was out.

I don't know how long I was unconscious. All I know is that when I woke up, I was no longer in my own neighborhood. I was lying on a layer of sand. Desert? Beach? Playground sandbox? I was not yet conscious enough to be able to tell.

A silence filled the area as I lay motionless on the sand. Nothing else happened until someone threw a bucket of water on my head.

I woke with a start. "Hey, what the-? What just happened?"

"Haha," a familiar-sounding voice chuckled as I got up. "Don't worry, it looks like you're going to be okay."

My eyesight had cleared by now, and I looked around. I could now confirm that I had been lying on a beach before a town. I had never been here before, and yet the place looked familiar to me.

But who had thrown the water on me? I quickly spotted the culprit, who turned out to be a young anthropomorphic two-tailed fox holding a now-empty metallic bucket. He was wearing white gloves and laceless sneakers.

"Welcome to Emerald Town," the fox in question greeted me. "You can call me Tails. Did you just get here?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I did just get here… I think. It's a little hard to explain. You see, I was …"

"You don't need to tell me," Tails interrupted. "I think I understand. You should be careful, though. Since you just arrived in this world, your bodily structure is a little unstable. You might want to avoid coming in contact with small animals."

"That's balderdash," I shot back. "What's the worst thing that could happen? Here, I'll prove it to you." I approached a robin in a nearby tree and put my hand out.

Noticing me, the robin flew over and tried to perch on my hand. As soon as it came in contact with me, though, both it and me were enveloped in a flash of light.

When the light cleared, I felt a little strange. I looked around; the robin was gone. "Tails," I told my new friend, "what were you saying about the unstable bodily structure thing?"

"It's a little hard to explain," Tails replied. "Here, come with me, and I'll show you."

With that, Tails led me into a large building. It looked like a very high-tech setting, like a laboratory or something. "This place is amazing," I finally said. "Is it yours?"

"Yes, it is," Tails explained. "Science and mechanics are hobbies of mine." _Why can't we all have hobbies so advanced,_ I thought to myself, deciding not to mention it out loud.

Only the humming of machines kept the room out of silence as Tails led me through the building. Finally he stopped in front of a full-length mirror. "I think you'd better take a look at yourself," Tails told me.

I did, and I balked. Staring back at me in the mirror was an anthropomorphic robin, complete with a pair of large robin wings on his back, and practically covered in red feathers. To boot, my clothes were gone… but for some reason, I didn't care.

"As you can see, your appearance is a lot different than it was before you touched that robin," Tails explained. "When you touched it, the-"

"Wait, don't tell me," I interrupted. "The lack of stability in my bodily structure caused the robin to merge with me, transforming me into what I am now."

It was Tails' turn to balk now. "Th-That's exactly correct! How did you figure that out?"

I smirked. "I know a few things about science, too. Not as much as you obviously do, but enough for me to guess."

Tails laughed a little. "I bet. And just minutes ago you refused to believe me. Oh, just a moment. I think I'd better give you something."

Leaving those words hanging in the air, Tails disappeared for a moment, then returned with a small cardboard box. I opened it, and inside I found a pair of gloves and a pair of shoes just like the ones Tails wore.

"Thanks," I said, withdrawing the box's contents and trying them on. They fit as if they were made for me. "I think I like them."

"Don't mention it. Hey, I didn't catch your name."

"Call me Leo."

"Leo. Leo the Robin. Sounds neat."

"Really? Sounds kind of silly to me. And… if you don't mind me changing the subject all of a sudden… I don't quite feel confident in my new body. Is there some way you could train me or something?"

Tails smiled. "Sure. I can put you in a VR training course, and I'll instruct you as you go. That sound good?"

"I'll give it a try."

-

If you'll notice, I made this chapter longer than I usually make my chapters. I don't doubt that some of my regular reviewers, like Nail Strafer, will appreciate the extra length.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"What kind of stupid description is that? Give me some more details!"  
-Dr. Eggman, _The Tale of Blaze_, Ch. 4 


	2. VR Training

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: I just realized that the title for this story is a load of #$&#&$#&$. I really didn't have any better ideas, though. Oh, well.  
Oh, one more thing. If this story begins to seem too video-game-ish, don't let that surprise you. I have a tendency to gravitate in that direction.

-

Chapter 2: VR Training

-

Tails led me to some kind of device in the corner of the lab. "You know," I mentioned, "I always thought virtual reality was a contradiction in terms." Tails didn't respond.

"All right," Tails advised me, "just climb into the device here. Your wrists and ankles go in the appropriate clamps, and your head should fit into the helmet there."

The thing looked like some kind of torture device, but I trusted Tails, so I obeyed. As soon as I was ready, Tails pushed a few buttons and secured me in, then activated the device, causing me to lose consciousness for a few seconds.

When I woke again, I was standing in some kind of neon-grid area. Ahead of me was a long path. "Zounds!" I finally said. "What is this place?"

I heard Tails' voice in response to my question. "This is just part of your VR training. I'm going to start you off on the simple stuff. Your new body enables you to run at amazing speeds. Just a moment."

All of a sudden, what looked like a hologram of me appeared next to me. "See that hologram? Just watch what it does and do the same thing."

"Gotcha," I replied.

The hologram started running down the path, and I followed. The two of us began to go faster and faster; I could not believe our speeds. As we were screaming along at 25 or so MPH, my hologram's wings started to move, and suddenly I realized that _mine_ were moving as well.

"That's natural," Tails' voice explained, as if he had read my mind. "Just keep going."

I kept going. Soon, my hologram's feet weren't even touching the ground; his wings were keeping him coasting along, and he stopped moving his feet and put them back to reduce air resistance. Realizing that my feet weren't touching the ground either, I did the same thing.

Suddenly, everything went black. "Okay, you seem to have gotten the hang of speed," Tails interrupted. "That speed you were going at at the end is called 'coast speed', and it's the fastest you can go. Now let's work on some attack moves."

When things lit up again, I was standing on a small platform. A few yards away, another platform held my hologram. We both had large targets in front of us.

I looked over at my hologram for guidance, and he ran his hand over his other arm and picked up a loose feather. I found a loose feather on my arm, as well.

"You've gotten the hang of this VR training pretty quickly," Tails' voice told me. "I won't interrupt you again unless you need it."

As I watched, my hologram held his feather so the stem pointed at the target, and put it up to his wing. He pulled back against the wing like a bow and arrow, and released it. The feather hit the target's center perfectly.

"Now it's my turn," I said as I copied my hologram's feat with my own wing. The feather flew through the computer-generated air … and missed the center of the target by a few feet.

Tails laughed a little. "It's okay, Leo. Practice makes perfect. Just keep trying."

I tried a few more times. On my fifth or so try, I hit the center of the target head-on. Tails cheered, and everything went black again.

This time, I was at the beginning of another long path, but this one sloped down and ended at a wall. An identical path was next to me, and there was my hologram, at the beginning of it.

As usual, I kept an eye on my hologram's actions. He began running down the path, whose slope took him to coast speed quickly, and then fell forward and curled into a tight ball, crashing through the wall as he rolled into it.

After a moment, I remembered that it was my turn. I rushed down the slope, hit coast speed, and dropped into ball form myself. I couldn't see where I was going, but I knew from the satisfying SMASH! that I had broken the wall on my path.

Everything darkened once more, and this time I was standing on the first of a series of platforms. My hologram was standing next to me. Hovering above the last platform were two wire-frame spheres.

My hologram ran toward the next platform. Right before reaching the edge, he jumped, curling into a ball as soon as he left the ground. This apparently increased his distance, and it worked. He landed on the next platform perfectly.

As my hologram jumped from platform to platform, I followed, remembering to curl into a ball each time I jumped. We both reached the last platform, and my hologram broke one wire-frame sphere by jumping into it. I did the same thing with the other one.

"You've mastered attacking," Tails' voice chimed in. "Now for the last lesson: flying."

I was now comfortable with everything going dark and brightening again, which of course was what happened. This time, the only ground was one platform, which my hologram and I were standing on.

This time, my hologram jumped into the air, curling into a ball as usual, but this time suddenly uncurled and put his arms out, letting his wings keep him airborne. I followed suit.

The two of us hovered in the air for a few seconds, after which my holographic guide zoomed forward through the air like a hawk. I leaned forward and flew after.

Tails had set up several rings in the sky. I did not even have to look at my hologram to know what to do; I flew around, zooming through each ring in turn.

After I had flown through the final ring, everything went dark once more, but this time I was back in the VR device when I regained my sight. Tails walked up to me and asked me how I felt.

"Couldn't be better," I replied. "I think I've gotten the hang of this new body now. Thanks, Tails."

-

Yeah, long chapter, eh?

Quote of the Chapter:  
"The sight of all the birds following us and the view from up there was so amazing, I almost broke out into song… but I know I'm no good at singing, so I held back."  
-Tails, _Journal Job_, Ch. 1 


	3. First Sign of Trouble

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: I just got Sonic Gems Collection, and it's really good so far. I really don't need to say anything else now, do I?

-

Chapter 3: First Sign of Trouble

-

As I began to leave, Tails stopped me. "Wait a minute, Leo. Don't be so hasty. I think I'd better give you something, just in case something happens."

Tails handed me some kind of phone-like device. "This is a direct link to my lab. If you need my help with anything, just hold the red button and tell me what you need. I might be able to help you."

"Gotcha," I replied. "Thank you."

I found a secret pocket in one of my wings to put the phone in. Once that was done with, I dashed through the exit door, only to have my wings catch themselves on the door frame, flooring me and scattering feathers all over the ground.

Tails laughed a little. "Don't worry, I can understand the mistake. No harm done, really."

After that, I walked through the door again, this time checking to make sure my wings were folded up first. My departure was uninterrupted.

I decided to leave Emerald Town and explore a little. I took an off-road which led to a desert area of some kind, completely unaware of what was about to take place in Tails' lab.

It wasn't until later that Tails told me what happened at his lab, but this is the part of the story where it happened, so I'll tell you now.

About the same time that I reached the desert, Tails looked over the feathers scattered on the ground. "Man, I need to clean this up," he said. "Where's my broom?"

Tails entered the closet and fetched his broom. When he returned, he was shocked to see a familiar-looking robot.

"M-Metal Sonic?" Tails stammered.

"Affirmative," the reply came. "I have captured Sonic. You're next."

Leaving those words in the air, Metal Sonic activated the jet engines in his feet and blasted at Tails, who quickly smacked him aside with his broom.

Furious, Metal Sonic tried another rush, but Tails activated his twin tails and flew a few yards up in the air. The robot then tried to fire some kind of laser blast at Tails, who dodged it.

As it happened, the walls of the lab were made of reflective metal. The laser blast bounced off two walls and the ceiling, and it struck Metal Sonic head-on, causing a short circuit.

Metal Sonic collapsed to the ground. "You got lucky, fox," he muttered. "I don't have enough energy to capture you now. I'll be back after I recharge, though."

At that point, Metal Sonic's emergency boosters kicked in, and he zoomed out of the lab. Tails recovered quickly, and started cleaning up. It didn't take long for him to finish.

"Whew, I'm done here. I should be on my guard, though. If Metal Sonic's already got Sonic and he almost got me, Dr. Eggman must be up to something. And … wasn't there one more feather on the ground before that attack?"

Meanwhile, I was just approaching a large pyramid. "This is quite the pyramid," I mentioned to myself. "I think I might find something important inside."

At that moment, Metal Sonic zoomed by me and entered the pyramid I was looking at. I quickly pulled out the phone Tails gave me and called him. "Tails! Tails! I just saw some blue robot that looked kind of dangerous whiz by! What should I do?"

"Did he look like …" Tails began, giving an exact description of the robot I'd seen.

"Yes, that's exactly it!" I replied.

"Well, that robot is called Metal Sonic. He just broke into my lab and tried to capture me. My friend Sonic has already been captured. Did you see which way he went?"

"Yeah, he went into a pyramid in this desert area. You want me to follow him?"

"Please do. I want to get my best friend back as soon as I can. I appreciate your cooperation. But Metal Sonic is a very powerful foe. Do you think you can handle him?"

"Aw, don't worry about a thing. I can hold my own."

"If you're going to be that confident, I guess I'm not going to stop you. Go ahead."

Once those words were out, I put away the phone and approached the pyramid's door.

-

This chapter is shorter than the other two. Heck, it's shorter than both of the first two chapters combined. Did that even make sense?

Quote of the Chapter:  
"I am … OTORA!" "No, you're very, very ugly."  
-Witty dialogue exchange, _RPGames_, Ch. 6 


	4. The Pyramid

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: I've got multiple ideas for this story, so this is as good a time as any to continue it.

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Chapter 4: The Pyramid

-

It was rather dark inside the pyramid, except for some torches that lined the walls. It looked like they had just been lit. I removed a loose feather from my leg and set it on fire from one of the torches, so I would have a light as I continued.

The pyramid's halls led me to a door that was shut tight. A hole in the wall, about two inches square, permitted me to see what was in the next room. One thing in particular caught my eye: a crystal orb that rested on a pedestal.

I acted on my first thought, and shot a feather through the hole at the orb. Direct hit! The orb began to shine, and the door opened. _How does this all work?_ I thought to myself as I continued.

There was another long hall, and I approached a large room. The room was flooded with quicksand, and several pillars stuck out. I tried to fly across, but the air currents in the room made that impossible.

Realizing that I had no alternative, I hopped from platform to platform, and quickly reached the other side. The door was shut tight, though, and there was no visible way to open it.

I casually glanced around the room, and spied a tile sticking out of the wall a distance away. I started to jump from tile to tile, but my foot slipped and I had to grab onto the edge of one pillar to avoid falling into the quicksand.

_Whoa, that was too close for comfort,_ I thought. _Okay, enough recklessness. I had better be careful from here on out._

Climbing back on top of the pillar, I took it slowly, hopping to the pillar nearest the odd tile out. I pushed it in, and the door shook a little, then creaked open. The wind currents also stopped, so I could fly over to the door without fear of crashing.

I loved the long halls in the pyramid; they were perfect for zooming down and hitting coast speed. I enjoyed it a little too well, since I almost fell off the end of the path when I entered a large room with a deep pit.

_There's no telling whether I'd ever be able to get back up if I fell down there,_ I thought to myself. I was about to start circling the pit when the phone beeped. Taking it out, I held the button. "You need something, Tails?"

"Yeah," Tails replied. "How's your skill with your feather-shooting?"

"Top-notch. Why do you ask?"

"I wanted to let you know that I'm experimenting with your feathers. There were some left over on the floor from when you fell down, and I think I might be able to do something useful."

"Thanks for the reminder, Tails. I'll stop by your lab when I'm done in the pyramid."

With that, I put away the phone and stowed it in my wing where it had been before. I then looked around, and realized something discouraging: There was no way out other than the way I came, and the pit in front of me.

Gathering all my bravery, I leaped into the pit, spreading my wings to slow my descent. All the while, I kept an eye out for something to land on. A pillar came into view, and I closed my wings and landed squarely on it.

Pausing for a breath, I looked around for another door. Of course, it wouldn't open, but two unlit torches beside the door seemed to be a clue. There were two lit torches on the other side of the room.

My first idea was to fly over and light one of my feathers on fire from the lit torches, then shoot it at one of the unlit torches, but I immediately realized that such a move would be stupid- that would set my entire wing on fire, and even if I survived, I might not be able to fly afterwards.

So I chose the safer method, and flew over and lit one of my feathers, then flew to the door and dropped the feather into the unlit torch. The torch burst into flame. I used another feather to transfer the fire from that torch to the other, and the door opened. I whistled the "puzzle solved" melody from the Zelda games as I watched the door open.

The next door came right away, and it was open. I was hesitant to go through, though. _I think I'd better save my game before I continue,_ I thought to myself. _I have a bad feeling about what's ahead. Wait, what am I thinking? This isn't a game! There's no way to save! I guess I'll have to take my chances._

Bravely, I continued.

-

Sorry, all out of things to say here. Sonic Gems Collection is excellent, though.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"Mental note, never act on your first thought."  
-Sally Fann, _The Fann Girls: Zero Mission_, Ch. 2 


	5. VS Metal Sonic

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: No reviews? Who cares? I'm anxious to get this story continued! Note that this chapter contains a scripted battle. Writing scripted battles isn't my strong suit, but sometimes it's required for this story. If there's anyone reading who can write better scripted battles, I'd appreciate it if you re-wrote the scripted battle in your own way. E-mail me with the result, okay?

-

Chapter 5: VS Metal Sonic

-

Hearing voices, I stopped short of going through the door, and hid behind the frame to listen in. One voice sounded like it matched with Dr. Eggman, and the other was robotic.

"What do you mean you failed?" Eggman yelled furiously.

"What can I say?" the robotic voice replied. "The fox is very tough. Don't worry, though. I'm going back to try again as soon as I recharge."

"We'll see about that, Metal Sonic. Hey, what's this stuck to your hand? Looks like a feather, but I haven't seen a feather like this before. I'll put it through the DNA scanner."

There was a silence, during which I snuck closer to the doctor, and then I heard Dr. Eggman's voice again. "So this is what this feather's owner looks like. Looks like a strong type."

"Affirmative, master. We should find him."

"Yes, we should. How would we do that, though?"

I had slipped behind the two, and chose this moment to interrupt. "You could start by turning around, you cads."

Eggman and Metal Sonic turned to face me. "Whoa, you surprised me," Eggman told me. "What's your name?"

"Leo," I replied. "Call me Leo."

"Leo, eh? You seem like the strong sort. Metal Sonic, take care of Leo. I'm off." With that, Eggman pressed a button, and teleported himself to who-knows-where.

Metal Sonic confronted me. "You must be very brave to come this far. But you're also very stupid. Surely you had a reason for coming this way."

"Leo, not Shirley," I interrupted. "And I'm here because you're here. What did you do with Sonic?"

"What I did with Sonic," Metal Sonic shot back, "is not something you should be concerned about. But how did you know about him?"

"You told Tails, and Tails told me."

"So you're a friend of Tails? So be it. If I take you out, I'll leave him vulnerable. Now!"

Metal Sonic rushed at me, and I jumped up in the air and hovered out of his reach. I wasn't as far out of his reach as I thought I was, though, as I found when he activated jet engines on his feet and rose up to my level.

I shot a feather at Metal Sonic, but it didn't even scratch his paint job. He shot a few laser blasts at me, and I dodged left and right. I then dove for him, curling into a ball right before striking. That didn't damage him either.

_Okay, this guy is tougher than he looks,_ I thought to myself. _I've got no choice. I've got to get away from him somehow. This guy's got me totally in his sights, however. How can I lose him?_

While I was thinking, Metal Sonic tackled me, knocking me to the ground and sending several feathers flying. "Any last requests?" Metal Sonic asked me as he held me down with one hand while holding the other to me to deliver the final blow.

An idea instantly burst into my head. "Yeah, could you gather up my feathers? You knocked some loose when you tackled me."

Metal Sonic hesitated.

"Come on," I added, "can't you cut a guy some slack?"

"Affirmative," Metal Sonic replied without thinking, "wait right there." He turned his attention to the feathers scattered around the floor, and got up and started to gather them. While he was doing this, I flew out the back way.

The path I'd taken led to a tall, narrow channel, and I flew up it. I pushed aside the square tile that covered the exit, and quickly dropped it back down the channel. Judging by the sound it made, I'd say it landed right on Metal's head.

_That was a real event, I'm sure,_ I thought. _I had better go back and check on Tails._ I quickly flew back to Emerald Town.

-

Sorry, nothing to say here. 


	6. The Feather Today

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: Here's the next chapter. Sorry to keep ya waiting.

-

Chapter 6: The Feather Today

-

Noticing that the skylight was open as I came close to Tails' lab, I raised my altitude and dove through it. My landing on the floor of the lab was less than graceful, and I nearly collided with Tails, who was walking across the lab.

Tails jumped. "Whoa! You startled me, Leo! You really should be a little more careful when you do that."

"Heh, sorry," I replied as I got up. "The pyramid excursion went nicely. Metal Sonic was stronger than I expected, but I managed to get away."

"I see. Well, don't worry. Maybe next time, when you're more powerful, you'll be able to take him down."

"Maybe. How are your experiments coming? You know, with my feathers?"

"Actually, I just got done with the first leg of my experiments. Just a moment."

With those words, Tails approached a large vat about the size of an oil drum, which contained some kind of chemical mixture. He dipped a white towel in the mixture, soaking up a good amount of it.

Tails brought the towel to me and instructed me to hold out my left leg and rest it on a stool that he'd set up nearby. When I complied, he wrapped the towel around the leg, so that the mixture soaked into the feathers on it, and told me to hold still until he returned.

As I waited, I let my mind wander. _Gee, I hope Tails knows what he's doing. I really have no reason to doubt him, but I can't stop wondering. Just what is this mixture supposed to do? Whatever it is, it's really cold. I wonder how long this is going to take. Maybe another few-_

"All right, Leo, take the towel off."

I withdrew the towel and passed it back to Tails, who was taking a sip out of a bottle of water. When I looked back at my leg, I was so startled I nearly kicked myself. The feathers on my left leg were now died a pale blue color.

"Blue feathers?" I asked Tails.

"Ice Feathers," Tails explained, finishing off the water in his bottle. "A special kind of feather that, when shot, can lower temperatures, extinguish flames, and freeze things."

I nodded. "Sounds useful. Won't I look ridiculous with a blue leg while the rest of my body is red, though?"

Tails approached the water cooler to refill his bottle. "To be honest, Leo, you didn't exactly look normal to begin with."

Of course, this wisecrack made me pretty mad. I withdrew a feather from my body- by chance, it happened to be one of my new Ice Feathers- and shot it at Tails, who was at the water cooler by now.

Tails dodged the feather, but it went through the stream of water that was spilling out of the cooler. In a second, the effects of the feather made the stream freeze solid.

I blinked as Tails and I stared at the cooler. "So that's how the Ice Feathers work."

"Yeah," Tails added. "I guess it's a success. Come back after a while; I'll be experimenting with other feather types, and will probably come up with something else. Don't over-use your new Ice Feathers, though; your normal feathers are the best in some situations."

"Right," I confirmed. "Well, I'd better get going."

With that, I spread my wings and took off once more, aiming for the skylight. I missed, though, and hit the ceiling. Tails caught me when I fell back down, and took me outside.

"You really should stop showing off," Tails suggested. "You could get yourself killed doing that."

I got to my feet. "Yeah, I guess so."

My next problem was, where would my next destination be now that I had my new kind of feather? I looked around, and decided to take the path to the east, to a field area.

The field was very beautiful. Flowers dotted the surroundings, and there was a river running from north to south that began at a waterfall. I approached the waterfall, and let its mist envelop me and calm my nerves for a moment.

I thought I could see something on the other side of the falls, but I couldn't get through or around. _There's got to be some way through,_ I thought to myself. Suddenly, an idea sprung to mind.

Reaching down to my left leg, I withdrew a loose blue feather and shot it at the top of the falls. It froze, causing the waterfall to run to the sides and revealing a cave beyond. I decided to enter.

-

Yeah.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"I hate a guy whose ego is larger than his IQ."  
-Rouge, _The Power of Juan_, Prologue 


	7. Spelunking

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: I just took a current events test that I did pretty badly on, so I'm trying to find a way to forget. Working on this story is as good a way to forget as any.

-

Chapter 7: Spelunking

-

The cave was very impressive. I was surprised that I could see around; I expected the place to be as dark as midnight. Deciding not to ask questions, I continued in.

Soon, the cave narrowed into a small circular opening a little under a yard in diameter. I tried to crawl through, but I just wouldn't fit. My thoughts made it through my mouth: "How in the world am I supposed to get through this stupid hole? There's got to be a way. Wait, I think I have it!"

Backing up a few yards with my wings closed, I dashed at the hole, curling into a ball as I approached, just as I'd done during my VR training. I zoomed through the hole and popped out at the other end, then got up.

I looked around, and quickly determined that I was no longer in an ordinary cave. I was now in some kind of mine. Coal? Jewels? Rare minerals? I had no way of knowing.

At that moment, the Tails phone (as I began to call it) rang, and I answered. "Hey, Tails. Did you need something?"

"Yes, I did. In order to complete my latest experiment, I'll need the oil of a lantern. If you find a lantern of some kind, be sure to bring it to me."

"Thanks, Tails, I will." I hung up and stowed the phone.

A mine cart rested on a track that led deep into the darkness. I peered into it; it was empty except for a miner's pick and helmet. Figuring nobody would miss the stuff, I took the pick, put on the helmet, and hopped into the cart for a ride.

How would I get it going, though? I could not reach the ground from inside the cart, and if I got out and pushed it, it might get away from me. The cart had a seat, though, so it had to be intended for riding in. What was the secret behind it?

I paused to think about physics. To start the car, I needed forward thrust. To do that, I had to push back on something. I couldn't reach the ground, so there had to be a way to push back on the air. I also knew that when I flew, my forward thrust was due to the movement of my wings, which pushed on the air- and suddenly, I knew exactly what to do!

Carefully, I leaned forward and opened my wings, so that they were outside the car. I started my wings, and the car shuddered, then started to rush forward. When I had some good momentum, I closed my wings and enjoyed the ride as much as I could.

The end of the ride arrived a bit before I expected. The cart collided with a track-end bumper, throwing me clear into the wall. The pick I'd picked up got stuck in the side of the cave, and I pulled it free, then looked through the hole it'd made.

Someone in the next area was muttering to himself as he rested in a chair. He looked familiar, but I couldn't quite put a feather on it. The door into the room required a password to open, and I had no clue what it was.

A clipboard rested on a crate. I read it: "I managed to install a temperature system in the cave which tells me when it gets cold, so I can come out and get my coat. I'm not too good at judging temperatures. There are four sensors around the cave which analyze the temperature, and they're all averaged and sent to me."

I smirked. _I guess this was written by that guy I saw,_ I thought to myself. _If I can find these four sensors and do something about them, I might be able to drive this guy out of his little hidey-hole and find out about him._

Looking around, I spotted something on the wall. I flew up and examined it; it was one of the sensors for sure. It sensed the temperature between two contacts and sent that info … somewhere.

An idea quickly sprung to mind. I calmly withdrew an Ice Feather from my leg and stuck it between the contacts, bending it so that it wouldn't fall out. Now I had to find the other three sensors.

I decided to take another mine cart, which was right nearby. As I began to ride forward, the cart suddenly stalled and rolled back to its starting point. I climbed out, confused.

Figuring there was something wrong with the track, I went ahead of the cart and examined the rails. The track merged with another track around where the cart had stalled, and I quickly spotted the problem: it was a switchable track, and it was going the wrong way!

The switch for the track in question was right nearby, and I grabbed it and gave it a heave. An audible CLICK told me that the points had changed, and I tried the cart again. This time, my trip had no interruptions.

THUD! Once again, I was thrown free when the cart stopped. "Man, these carts need shock absorbers," I muttered as I dusted myself off after the landing.

Up ahead, a pile of rocks blocked the way. I cleared them away quickly with the pick, and got through. Among the rocks, I found an old-fashioned lantern, which I picked up. Tails requested something like it, but for now, it could light my way.

-

Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to end the chapter.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"I don't know what's making me want to throw up more, the rocking of this cruise ship or that stupid jingle."  
-Unnamed tourist, _Trouble on Toy Island_, Ch. 3 


	8. Your Place or Mine?

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: I'm anxious to get this story moving, so …

-

Chapter 8: Your Place or Mine?

-

I stepped into a large room in the mine. The rock had been chipped away, and I could see some kind of clear diamond material in it. Another clipboard rested on another crate, so I picked it up and read it.

"I have finally found what I have excavated for: Glassire Diamond, worth dozens of Rings per pound! It's very remarkable, since it instantly shatters when chilled; likewise, it hardens when exposed to heat. I will sell this material as soon as I collect a sufficient amount."

_Glassire Diamond?_ I thought. _So that's what's mined here!"_

Looking around, I spotted another one of those temperature sensors. A huge blockade of Glassire Diamond was in the way, though, and even if I flew, I couldn't get to the contacts.

An idea came to mind, though. I chose an Ice Feather from my leg and shot it at the blockade, and just like the clipboard noted, the stuff became shards in the blink of an eye. I calmly put another Ice Feather in between the contacts like I'd done with the first one.

The mine was a bit smaller than it seemed at first glance. The light from my lantern made dazzling patterns as the Glassire Diamond material in the walls refracted it. I hopped into another mine cart and started up my wings for a ride.

As I zoomed down the track, I passed through a gate that automatically opened for mine carts, then closed behind me. I then passed through another such gate, and came to a sudden stop.

"I think I saw another sensor between those two gates," I said to myself. "But those gates will only open for mine carts, and I doubt I'd be able to open one otherwise. I can't get out of the cart while it's moving, either; I might kill myself."

On a hunch, I rode the cart back, looking for a key feature. I spotted it in the form of a track switch lever by the track. Extending my pick, I tripped it as I passed. The cart was diverted, and came to a stop right in front of the sensor.

One Ice Feather later, I climbed back in the cart and rode on, remembering to flip the lever again to fix the track. I had found three sensors, but where was the fourth?

When I reached the next room, I paused to take off my helmet for a moment. My head was hot, and my layer of feathers wasn't helping. I casually glanced around, and spotted a suspicious-looking grate. I tried to fly up to take a look, but the pick was too heavy, so I had to leave it on the ground.

As I inspected the grate, I realized that it protected the fourth sensor. There was no way to remove the grate, but if I could get the pick up to this level, I could knock it away. How would I do that, though? I looked around for a clue.

I glanced at the cart that had taken me here. The first time I had ridden one, it had stopped abruptly, and the pick had been sent flying into the wall, where it got stuck. I had my answer in an instant.

Picking up the pick, I began to swing it in a circle. Faster … faster … faster … until I was getting dizzy. I then threw it, and it got stuck in the wall right next to the grate. I flew up and braced myself against the wall while I removed the pick and used it to pry the grate off.

The grate fell to the ground, and I had to drop my pick as well to stay in the air. While I was up there, I used another of my light blue Ice Feathers to sabotage the sensor. I then took the same route back to the locked door to watch the results.

I quickly heard a voice. "That's strange. The sensors show that this cave's temperature is near freezing. It doesn't seem that cold to me, though. Well, I had better come out and get my coat, either way."

Someone came out of the door, and I tackled him. I didn't get a good look at him, but he was wearing a cowboy hat or something. "Just who are you?" I quickly asked.

"You don't have to knock me down to ask me that," he responded as he retrieved his hat, which I had knocked to the ground. "I'm Nack the Weasel. Some call me Fang the Sniper, but that's just an alias."  
_Nack?_ I thought. _So that's why he looks so familiar!_

"Do you feel cold?" Nack asked me for no apparent reason. I shook my head, and he looked over at the sensor.

Uh-oh! Nack noticed the Ice Feather I'd stuck in the sensor. It didn't take him long to put two and two together, and realize what I'd done. "However you pulled this little stunt," Nack remarked, "it wasn't funny."

"**I** thought it was funny," I shot back. Nack didn't take too kindly to this last part, and I quickly found myself staring down the barrel of his … popgun.

Nack led me through the door he'd come through, and into what looked like an office of his. I took the opportunity to look around. There was a ladder leading down into the darkness. "You think you're funny, don't you, birdie?" he finally said to me.

"Birdie?" I confirmed. "Don't EVER call me that!"

I shot a feather down the barrel of his gun, knocking it out of his hands. He retrieved it. "Wait a minute, this is no place to fight. Come on, let's go downstairs to the storeroom." He climbed down the ladder, and I followed.

-

Sorry if it's short. I tried to extend it a little, but I think I failed.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"I like your looks. Howzabout a date sometime? No? Aw, you're no fun"  
-NPC, _RPGames_, Ch. 4 


	9. VS Nack

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: Wow, my reviewers are absolutely eating up this story. Save me a few bites, okay?

-

Chapter 9: VS Nack

-

I looked down as I descended the rope ladder, and saw a large circular mine cart track that circled the whole room, with one cart on it, directly below me. Nack stood beside the track, with his gun aimed directly at me. "What are you waiting for?" he told me.

Realizing that Nack would probably have the advantage if I just climbed down, I let go of the ladder and opened my wings, gliding over and hanging onto a large stalactite. "Can't fool me," I gloated.

Nack was not so easily fooled, though. He aimed his gun at the base of the stalactite and shot a … cork at it. At the same time, he gave the mine cart a shove, sending it rolling around the track. The strike to the stalactite's base caused it to break free, and I dropped.

I tried to open my wings to glide to safety, but it was too late; I fell directly into the mine cart as it came around. I couldn't brake the cart; it was going way too fast.

As I went around, Nack stepped into the center of the circle. "Enjoying the ride?" he taunted me. "I'm going to make sure you don't interfere with me ever again!" He shot another cork, aimed in front of me.

_Man, this guy has lousy aim,_ I thought to myself. _I mean, he wasn't even aiming at me. Wait a minute! Aimed to the front of me like that, it'll hit me as this mine cart approaches! This guy's smarter than he looks!_

Thinking quickly, I punctured the cork with a well-aimed feather, knocking it to the floor. Not to be outdone, Nack followed up by throwing a blockade of Glassite Diamond material on the tracks as a roadblock, but I shattered it with a properly aimed Ice Feather.

Nack was stunned. "How did you-"

I took advantage of Nack's hesitation and nailed his hand with a feather, knocking his gun across the room. It landed near the tracks, and Nack ran over to fetch it just as the mine cart was approaching the same spot. Just as Nack was picking up the gun, I snatched it from him.

Furious, Nack took a stick of dynamite from a pile in the corner, lit it, and threw it at me. I grabbed it and held an Ice Feather to the fuse, extinguishing it. "Hey," Nack demanded, "quit messing things up!"

"Naw," I replied, "it's way too fun." I aimed Nack's gun and pulled the trigger. It didn't fire, though, and Nack burst out laughing. There was no ammo. "Okay," I quickly added, "you get points for that. But next time I'll be a bit more careful."

Another stick of dynamite landed right in my cart as I threw the gun away. I threw it back at Nack, but he grabbed it and threw it back. The stick went back and forth until Nack missed it, and it exploded in his face.

Furious, Nack grabbed another stick of dynamite, but I shot a feather at him at the same time. I hit his hand again, causing him to drop it. Him dropping the stick was more important than it seemed, since it landed right in front of a pile of other dynamite sticks. When it exploded, it detonated the others as well.

Noticing what was happening, Nack panicked. "Uh-oh! I have explosives stashed all over this mine. That last dynamite stick explosion started a chain reaction that'll destroy this whole mine in about five minutes! I'm scrammin', Salmon!"

Nack ran towards an exit. Luckily for me, he tripped over a track switch lever on the way out. The track was diverted, and I hit a dead end and was thrown clear. If not for the circumstances, I would have paused to reflect on the absolute stupidity of that last line, but every second counted, so I dashed through the exit after Nack.

-

This chapter kind of fell flat, but it's not the worst thing I've written. (Right?)

Quote of the Chapter:  
"Sam and Clover investigated Cleo's office once Cleo had left. It didn't seem too suspicious. In fact, it was suspiciously unsuspicious… if that even makes sense."  
-Narrator, _Cherry-Lime Dr, uh, Nightmare,_ Ch. 5 


	10. Five Minutes of Haste

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: Hey, thank you, Shadowkiller, I just might do that. Okay, here's the next chapter. I e-mailed Nail Strafer about one aspect of this chapter, and took his (her?) suggestion.

I have also realized by now that this story won't be much more than a generic human-insertion/video game plot. But it's my story, so I don't mind, and I hope you don't mind either.

-

Chapter 10: Five Minutes of Haste

-

As I ran down the passage in pursuit of Nack, I left behind my pick and helmet, since they were just weighing me down. Five minutes, or three hundred seconds, was not a very long time; it took longer than that to write a one-page essay for high school.

I tried to glance at my watch to see how much time I had left, but then I remembered that I wasn't wearing one now. A countdown was ticking down in my head, though, reminding me constantly of how much time I had left, whether I liked it or I didn't.

Four minutes and thirty-eight seconds remained as I jumped into another mine cart and rode it, knowing that I would get to the exit more quickly that way. I put my wings into top gear as I propelled myself down the track.

The explosions, unfortunately, had caused chunks of Glassire Diamond to spill over the track. Knowing that the mine cart might derail if it hit one, I reacted quickly and shattered them with Ice Feathers. I missed one, though, and the cart hit it and sent me flying. There were only four minutes and two seconds left, so I had to hurry.

I wouldn't be able to get much more use out of the mine cart, so I ran down the track on foot. Fortunately, it was pretty straight, so I hit coast speed with three minutes and forty-six seconds remaining.

To my alarm, the floor had crumbled ahead, leaving a deep, wide chasm with few footholds. How Nack had ever crossed this thing was beyond me, but now was not the time to get hung up on that. A well-timed jump and open-winged glide took me across the gap as the timer in my head reached three minutes and twenty seconds.

Up ahead, parts of the passage were blocked by fallen rocks in certain positions. I had to jump over some barriers, roll under others, and sidestep the rest. I made it to the end as two minutes, fifty-one seconds remained.

The path ended at a passage blocked by a pile of large rocks. I had no choice; I picked them up and threw them aside one by one. I was down to two minutes and eight seconds before I could move enough rocks to get through.  
When I got past that blockade, I encountered a familiar but frightened face. "Nack!" I exclaimed.

Nack was having problems. "Great! First, a heavy rock falls and pins my tail to the ground so I can't escape, and now you come to finish me off! I don't need you to make my problem worse!"

I thought for a few seconds about what to do, then came to a decision. I approached the rock that was keeping Nack prisoner. Nack was shocked at first to see me trying to help him, but quickly regained his composure and joined in the effort.  
With me pushing and him pulling, the two of us managed to get the rock out of the way and free Nack. "Let's blow this joint," I told him, "we've only got one minute and six seconds to get out!"

Holding Nack by his wrist, I picked up the pace. The path ended in a tall shaft that led to the surface, but the ladder had been destroyed. And to make things worse, only forty-two seconds were left before the whole mine blew with the both of us in it.

"It's going to be tough getting us both out," I told Nack, "but I think we can make it." I started my wings and headed straight up, toward the exit. The flight was a little tougher with Nack's extra weight, but I believed I could make it.

Ten seconds remaining, I was almost to the surface. Eight seconds. Six seconds. Four seconds. Would I make it? Could the both of us get out? What would happen? There was no telling what would happen until the last second.

The timer in my head hit zero. R-R-RUMBLE! The entire mine began to collapse, and soon it was no more.

We had made it out.

Nack turned and faced me, and struggled to speak. "I don't believe it," he finally said. "I tried to kill you back there, and when I was trapped like that, you saved me. Why did you do that?"

I didn't answer. My facial expression gave Nack all the answers he needed. "Well, okay, I understand. I'll pay it back to you somehow, I promise. By the way, I never caught your name."

"Call me Leo."

"Leo? Nice name. Well, I'll be seeing you. I have work to do."

With that, Nack left. I figured I'd better leave, too, and I headed back to Tails' lab, which had become a kind of base of operations to me.

-

Whew! Glad that chapter's done with.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"Shortly after Gadget closed the hotel room door, the grandfather clock in the hall chimed ten. The second chime was drowned out by a small explosion which did not leave Andrew in perfect condition."  
-Narrator, _Mission SEGA_, Ch. 1 


	11. Feather or Not

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: So, it's time for another chapter, I suppose. Sorry, all out of things to say here.

-

Chapter 11: Feather or Not

-

As I approached Tails' lab, I flew upward and landed on the roof. Tails had closed the skylight, so I kneeled down and knocked on it. This got Tails' attention, and he looked up. Seeing me, he opened the skylight, letting me in.

I dropped to the ground, opening my wings to slow my descent. "I was just in a mine run by some Nack guy," I explained. "I barely got out before the whole cave caved in! I managed to find a lantern in there, though, so you can finish whatever you were working on."

Reaching into my wing, I found the lantern I'd picked up and passed it to Tails. "Thank you, Leo," he told me as he took it. "Now I can get back to work. This will only take a moment."

Tails approached a table and emptied the lantern's oil into a beaker, then poured most of the oil into a vat of chemicals. I watched as he added this and that, heated it to varying temperatures, and stirred it well.  
Eventually, Tails managed to finish the concoction. He dipped a towel in it like before, and asked me to hold out my right leg and rest it on the same stool as before. I complied, and he wrapped the towel around my leg as he'd done before.

I thought for a while as I waited for it to soak. _I wonder what this mixture does. The last mixture was really cold, but this one is really hot. And why did Tails need that lantern oil? This just isn't adding up. Well, I suppose Tails will tell me when-_

"It's ready, Leo. Remove the towel."

Tails took the towel as I passed it to him, and I checked my leg. This time, they were died a deep orange color.

I glanced at Tails. "Orange feathers?"

"Flame Feathers," Tails told me. "If you shoot one, it can raise temperatures and light things on fire. I'm sure you'll find them as useful as the Ice Feathers. Now, what about the water cooler?"

"What about it?"

Tails pointed at the water cooler. The water in it was frozen solid. I'd forgotten what I'd done to it back when I'd gotten the Ice Feathers. I quickly retrieved one of my new Flame Feathers and shot it, hitting the frozen stream of water and thawing the whole thing completely.

Approaching the newly thawed water cooler, Tails got a drink from it. He was very excited about it; "Eureka!" he yelled.

_You don't smell so good yourself,_ I thought, deciding not to mention it out loud. I did say something else: "Is there anything else you want me to get for your next project?"

"Yes," Tails replied. "If you can help it, bring me a glowing seashell, a quantity of blessed air, and a … well, I haven't figured out the last one yet."

"Okay, I'll try to find you those things," I assured my two-tailed friend. "Where should I start?"

Tails showed me a map, and I looked it over. The most likely candidate for a starting position seemed to be an odd cave at the beach area. "It's called the Cave of Aqua," he explained. "It's kind of flooded with ocean water, so be careful."

Giving Tails the thumbs-up, I departed through the skylight the way I'd came, pausing for a moment to take measurements and make sure I wouldn't miss. Tails didn't get a chance to object, but when he saw how careful I was, he didn't have any reason to.

I paused to perch on the roof again, and looked around. The beach was to the south, so I jumped and opened my wings, making a low glide which ended on the shore. From there, it was a short stroll to a nearby cave entrance. It HAD to be the Cave of Aqua; nothing else could've been.

As I entered, I found that the cave was a little dark. The cave ended at a stone door, though. What would I do now?

Two torches illuminated the door. At least, one of them did; the other had gone out. On a hunch, I dropped one of my Flame Feathers into the torch, which burst into flame. The door shuddered, then opened.

-

In case you can't tell, I'm all out of things to say here. Except that nobody seems to read the Quotes of the Chapter. Not that I'm complaining; I'm running out of quotes.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"To test his hypothesis, Max picked up the statuette and slammed it into his chest again. All he managed to do this time was knock the wind out of himself."  
-Narrator, _Schwing!_, Ch. 1 


	12. Cave of Aqua

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: I have some great ideas for later parts of this story, so I'm anxious to continue it. Thanks for letting me use your character, Sk27!

-

Chapter 12: Cave of Aqua  
(or, Leo Meets Shadowkiller27's Custom Character)

-

As I descended into the Cave of Aqua, I stopped short upon finding a large underground lake of ocean water. "There's an easy way and a hard way to do everything," I decided, "and I'm going to take the easy way." I shot an Ice Feather at a spot in the water, freezing the surrounding water.

It thawed instantly.

Testing the water, I realized that this ocean water had salt in it, so freezing it was out of the question. I didn't have a choice, so I jumped into the water and started to swim. I'm a pretty good swimmer, and when my wings joined in, my swimming speed was excellent.

I swam forward, pausing every several seconds to come up for air. At first I'd worried that the water would wash out my feathers and the properties in them, but it didn't, I found, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

At the other end of the lake, I found an underwater tunnel. Making sure to surface for air one more time, I swam through it. The tunnel was a little long, but somehow I managed to reach an air pocket before running out of breath.

The tunnel ended at a large cylindrical passage. About three-quarters of the passage was water; the top was air. I stayed on the surface as I swam forward, but a current pushed me back.

I dove underwater and tried to swim through the current, but even with both my arms and wings working together, I couldn't overcome the current. When I surfaced and tried to fly over the water, I found that my wings were so water-logged that I couldn't fly.

"Great," I muttered. "And I can't wring out my wings, either; there's no place to stand. There's got to be some kind of clue around here somewhere." Looking around, I didn't see anything … except for someone swimming straight for me.

THUD! Whoever it was collided with me. When we both recovered, I got a good look at him. He looked like a blue version of Tails, but with a single tail. "Hello," I finally said. "I'm Leo. Who are you?"

"Water Tails," the unknown fox introduced himself. "To make it all the way here, you must have been an excellent swimmer, and for a bird, that's something unique."

I folded my arms. "Eh, swimming isn't much more than flying underwater. I can't get further than this, though; the current's too strong to swim through. Hey, how did YOU get past that current? There's no other way around."

"I can swim very fast. Watch."

With that, W.T. (as he didn't mind me calling him) took off swimming. Taking a good look, I noticed that he was spinning his tail to increase his speed. The current was no match for W.T., and he could breathe underwater, so he didn't need to surface for air.

W.T. returned to me after reaching the other end. "How was that?"

"Wonderful. Hey, can you give me a lift to the other end?"

"I'd like to, but towing you would slow me down too much to make it."

"No problem; I have a different idea."

I explained my idea to W.T., who nodded. "Not a bad idea. I wish I'd thought of that. Let's try it out; I think it'll work."

W.T. got into a breast stroke position, and I climbed on top of him. "Five!" I called out. "Four! Three! Two! One! Go!"

On GO, W.T. started swimming at top speed through the current, while I rode him like a surfboard. For someone who wasn't really much good at surfing, I did pretty well. There was a shore at the other end, and we both rested there.

"So what causes that current?" I finally bothered to ask.

"I don't know," W.T. replied. "Even I haven't been able to get that deep into the cave."

"Why not?"

"Someone has blocked off the passage. I can't figure out how to get by."

"Take me there. I might be able to do something."

"Very well."

W.T. led me to a large underwater metallic gate. It was made of stainless steel, so it wouldn't rust. Inspecting it, I found that it was locked by a ten-digit combination. There was no apparent way to find it.

The two of us returned to the surface, and I used the Tails phone (which was waterproof, thank goodness) to contact Tails. I described the door to him, and he told me to check the serial number on the corner of the door.

I remained at the surface while W.T. checked the door. He came back a moment later, and told me that the serial number was 328-493-FJVR. I relayed this information to Tails, and he dropped the connection for a minute or two.

When Tails returned, he told me that the door was a kind of door that Dr. Eggman had used before, and that the combination was 3227482349. W.T. tried the combination, and the door opened. He came back and gave me the OK, and we both proceeded inside.

A large room was beyond the door. Inside was a sandy shore with lots of seashells on it, and more importantly, a large propeller. It took both of us to pry loose the propeller and disarm it.

As the current settled down, W.T. found a note on the ground. It said, "Did you like the surprise I installed in your cave? I figured it would slow you down, but if you're reading this, it apparently hasn't. You'll never find out who I am, though!"

The note was not signed, but there was a feather attached to it. We both recognized the feather as one of mine.

W.T. turned and faced me. "YOU!"

I tried to explain, but W.T. cut me off. "Don't try to talk your way out of this, Leo. I know this is your feather, so there's no denying your role in this."

-

I don't believe it. Even without all that puzzle-solving nonsense, this chapter came out amazingly long.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"Amber's Jewelry. Amy Rose here. May I help you?"  
-Amy, _Amy's Quest: The Four Key Jewels_, Ch. 1 


	13. VS Water Tails

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: Sorry, nothing to say here.

-

Chapter 13: VS Water Tails

-

There was no way out of battle with Water Tails. We were still out of the water, and I was dry by now, so I started my wings and flew up above the water. W.T. swam through the water and splashed on me, water-logging me quickly and causing me to plummet.

SPLASH! I hit the water's surface right next to W.T. "Good shot," I muttered. "But you won't get that lucky again."

W.T. gave me a fast underwater punch, knocking me into the wall. I knew that this guy was the strongest when in the water, so I had to get him out of it in order to gain the advantage. The cave was half flooded with water, though, so this wouldn't be easy.

I dove underwater and tried to out-manuever W.T., but I had a hard time of it; he was faster than I was, and he didn't need to surface for air. He connected with another punch, and I was knocked into the floor.

Scrambling to reach the beach, I managed to get on shore and dry out my wings. I lay motionless there for a moment, exhausted.

W.T. stepped out of the water and approached me. "Is there anything you'd like to say before your defeat, Leo?"

An idea instantly popped into my head. "Yes, there is." I grabbed W.T.'s leg, got up, and threw him into the wall. "You should never underestimate someone who came all the way here."

Coughing, W.T. recovered quickly. "That was a cheap shot, Leo. But I can assure you that it won't happen again."

"I beg to differ," I retorted as I got out a feather and prepared to shoot it at my amphibious opponent. He dodged it, though, and dove into the water once more, knocking me in as well.

As W.T. dashed at me and attempted to connect with another punch, I threw an Ice Feather in front of him. The water ahead froze only for a split second, but that second was more than enough for W.T. to smack into the ice and hurt himself.

W.T. rubbed his head for a moment while I returned to the shore. I shot another feather at him from above the water's surface, and managed to nail him this time. He wasn't too happy about it, but then again, he wasn't exactly ecstatic to begin with.

Furious, W.T. sped at me. The propeller engine that the two of us had deactivated lay next to me. I picked it up and clonked him on the head with it, doing so gently so I wouldn't kill him.

I smiled as W.T. fell to the ground once more, but he pulled me into the water again. The fight went on for a while. I don't know how long it lasted, but it was a few minutes at least. It didn't end until W.T. had me pinned to the sandy shore.

"You're making a big mistake!" I blurted out. "That propeller was not my work!"

"If it wasn't your work," W.T. shot back, "then whose was it?"

Picking up the note that we'd found, I gave it to W.T. to look at. He looked it over, and found that it had been written on stationery with the Dr. Eggman insignia on it. More importantly, on the back was printed:

Dr. Eggman  
Evil Genius

W.T. blinked. "This Dr. Eggman guy tried to frame you?"

I nodded.

Realizing the grave mistake he'd made, W.T. got off of me. "I'm-I'm extremely sorry about that, Leo," he finally said.

"Eh, it's okay," I assured him. "I can understand the error."

"Okay then. By the way, there has to have been some reason that you came here. What was it?"

"Do you know where I can find a glowing seashell?"

"Sure. Just a moment."

W.T. bent down and brushed some of the sand to the side, revealing a seashell that glowed brilliantly. "Will this do?"

I took the shell. "I'm fairly sure it will do, W.T. Thanks."

"Anytime. Want a lift back to the entrance?"

"I'd appreciate that."

After that, we both jumped into the water again, and W.T. took me back to where I'd entered and left me on the shore. I waved to W.T. from the shore as he departed, then I left in the opposite direction and headed for Tails' lab.

-

Glad that's settled, eh? I'm not much good at scripted battles, as I stated earlier.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"Oh, of all the rotten luck. Too bad for this team, it's GAME OVER for them! One can only speculate how the next team will do. This is Tina D. signing off for RPGames!"  
-Tina D., _RPGames_, Ch. 1 


	14. Happy Feather's Day

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: … Oh forget it.

-

Chapter 14: Happy Feather's Day

-

I aimed for Tails' skylight again, but this time I saw that he was flying right above the skylight, so I stalled my movement and hovered right in front of him. "What's with you, Tails? Usually you're down in there."

"Usually, yes," Tails replied, "but when I saw you were coming, I decided to meet you up here. I can fly too, you know. So, how did the trip to the Cave of Aqua go?"

"Went a little rough," I explained. "Some Water Tails guy helped me at first, but we were suddenly fighting each other due to an awkward misunderstanding. I think things ended on a good note, though. I got a glowing seashell, too. Take a look."

Tails looked at the glowing seashell I'd retrieved. "Looks perfect. Wait out here; I'll only be a moment." He disappeared into his lab while I stopped my wings and stood on the roof.

I looked around. I could see all of Emerald Town from my spot on top of Tails' lab. It was a splendid view; I could make out the pyramid where I'd first run into Metal Sonic, the entrance to the Cave of Aqua, and a tall tower to the north that stretched far into the clouds.

At that moment, Tails called to me, and I dropped into the skylight, landing on a pillow that Tails had placed there. He told me to stand with my wings open, and when I did, he draped a chemical-soaked towel over my left wing.

My mind was filled with thoughts again. _What does this one do, I wonder? First ice, then fire. This towel doesn't feel particularly hot or cold, but I can barely look at it. I suppose Tails will tell me what it does._

"All right, Leo, it should be ready"  
I removed the towel from my liberal side (bit of political humor, you probably wouldn't get it) and returned it to Tails. I couldn't turn far enough to see my wing, so I checked the full-length mirror. My left wing was dyed white.

Facing Tails, I asked: "White feathers?"

"Light Feathers," Tails explained. "Useful for blinding enemies and lighting dark areas. Speaking of dark, it's getting kind of late, and you've had a rough day. Maybe you'd better turn in."

"Where? I've got no place to stay for the night."

"I've got a spare bed you can use. Don't worry, I think it's clean."

Tails showed me the spare bed, and it looked rather inviting. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

During the night, I had an odd dream. I dreamt that I was back in my normal human body, and surrounded by Dr. Eggman robots, led by Metal Sonic, Nack, and W.T.

"St-stay back!" I begged.

"Not a chance," W.T. retorted. "After you installed that motor in my cave, think of this as my revenge."

"You're going to pay," Nack added. "You don't deserve to live."

Metal Sonic didn't have anything to add. I was practically shivering. "TAILS!" I finally screamed.

"Not now, Leo," Tails' voice yelled back from somewhere. "I'm busy with a very important experiment. I have to figure out just why rubber balls are so bouncy."

I was scared half to death. All the robots converged around me. I thought I would die for a moment. Metal Sonic raised his arm, and just as the robots were about to attack …

CRASH! THUD! WHAM!

Waking with a start, I shot one of my new Light Feathers into the air so I could see around. It worked delightfully, and I saw that Tails had tripped and fallen down the stairs on his way to the bathroom. I was a little surprised that Tails ever needed to use the bathroom in the first place, but I kept quiet.

I went back to sleep, and slept soundly until the next morning, when Tails woke me. "Leo, it's almost eight. Are you going to sleep the whole day?"

Yawning, I got up. "Tails, you needed a jar of blessed air and something else for your projects, right?"

"Yes," Tails confirmed, "but I haven't figured out yet what the something else is."

"It's okay. I'm going to go in search of the blessed air. While on the roof yesterday, I spotted some really tall tower north of here. I think I'll check that out."

Tails didn't try to stop me as I left.

-

No comment.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"Run any faster? What do I look like, Sonic the Hedgehog? I can only run so fast."  
-Me, _A Redhead's Lunch_, Ch. 5 


	15. Tower of the Sky

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: Erm, Sk27, that review was a little … oh, never mind. On with the story! (And, just out of curiosity, how does someone fall UP the stairs? Are you sure someone didn't just push him up the stairs to keep him from falling down?)

-

Chapter 15: Tower of the Sky  
(or, Leo Meets My Custom Character)

-

I approached the tower I'd seen. A plaque on the front said:

TOWER OF THE SKY  
Note: Lighting under repair

Not letting that deter me, I pushed open the doors and entered. Nobody was inside, though it was rather dark, so I shot a Light Feather into the air, lighting up the room for a moment.

The tower was just as big on the inside as it was on the outside. Of course, it'd have to be. The decor was enviable, and a large spiral stairway in the center led clockwise up to the higher levels. I decided to try to climb to the top.

Up, up, up I went. When it began to get dark again, I shot another Light Feather. The staircase was very long. I don't know how many steps I climbed- about five hundred, I suppose, maybe ten- but I finally reached the top floor of the tower.

Upon reaching the upper end of the staircase, I practically collapsed. "Next time," I said to myself, "I'm going to take the elevator. Say, what's up here, anyway? Got to be something important."

I shot another Light Feather to light the room. Looking around, I found that the only noteworthy thing in the room was a ladder leading up to the roof of the tower, so I took the obvious route and climbed up the ladder to the roof of the tower.

From the roof, I looked around at the view. It was a little disappointing; I couldn't see much other than clouds. All the clouds were at about the same level as the top of the tower. One small cloud was separated from the rest, and someone seemed to be standing on it, so I flew over and took a look.

The cloud-rider turned out to be a purplish-blue wolf figure wearing a white scarf. "Hello," I greeted him. "I'm Leo. And you are …?"

"Skyler," he introduced himself. "Skyler the Wolf, master of the clouds."

"Master of the clouds?" I repeated. "A wolf? I find that a little strange. I mean, wolves aren't as adapted to the skies as birds such as myself. Come over to the roof of the tower and show me just what you can do, Skyler."

I flew back over to the Tower of the Sky. Skyler jumped from cloud to cloud and was within my view in a fairly short time. For the final jump, he caught me by surprise a little: he curled into a ball as soon as he left the cloud, just as I always did.

Skyler landed quite smoothly. "You look a little startled. I'm not through yet, though. It's time to show why I'm the master of the clouds."

With a pointing gesture, Skyler made a small cloud, about the same size as the one he was standing on when I first saw him, appear in the air. Not one to pass up an opportunity for a little fun, I shot one of my feathers through the cloud.

When the feather went through the cloud, the cloud was punctured, and let loose with a gush of rain. "Heh, you're clever," Skyler commented. "Now, how about showing me what else you can do."

"I'll do that," I responded, "if you can make another cloud like the first one. By the way, you know that feather I just shot? I can also shoot feathers of fire, ice, and light."

Without hesitation, Skyler pointed, and made another cloud. I started my wings and hovered a few feet above it, then shut them all of a sudden, and curled into a ball myself as I fell. I broke right through Skyler's cloud and landed on my feet.  
Skyler smirked. "Not bad, Leo. How about doing that again?"

"Sure," I replied as Skyler created another cloud. I flew above the cloud and dropped down as before. As I did, though, Skyler took a running start and ball-jumped into the cloud. We both went through the cloud at the same time, and I think we collided, though I'm not sure.

When I landed, I felt a little strange. "Skyler," I said without looking at him, "what did you do that for?"

"I figured you were right; a bird is more suitable for the role of master of the clouds than a wolf is," Skyler explained somewhat cryptically. "You don't mind me borrowing your body for a moment, do you?"

"Borrowing … my …?" I finally turned to look at Skyler, and was startled to see my own robin body in Skyler's color. "Skyler!" I shouted with anger. "That's my body!"

"Hey, don't wig out," Skyler replied coolly. "I'm going to return it. Besides, until then, I left you some collateral."

"Huh?"

"Figure it out for yourself. In the meantime, I'm going to try out this new body. I'll let you have it back if you can catch me, though."

Skyler started his new wings and flew through the clouds. I had seen an old mirror in the Tower of the Sky, so I climbed back down and looked in it, revealing that I had the body of a wolf (well, one of my own red color). When Skyler stole my body, he'd left me with his own!

I growled in frustration. "I had better find Skyler if I'm ever going to get my body back." I rushed back up the ladder.

-

Hm, a bit of interest already, eh? Sk27, if you want to use Skyler in that story of yours, just e-mail me with Skyler's name in the subject line.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"Take a good look around, you two, because it'll be the last thing you'll ever see!"  
-Hooded Claw, _The Crazy Carnival Chapter_, Ch. 2 


	16. VS Skyler … sort of

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: Wow, that Sk27 sure gives me some notable reviews. By the way, the e-mail address you gave me in the one review is a failure. Oh, well. On to the next chapter!  
And that review I just got from Purifying Wind is a shocker. I honestly don't know how to respond to it.

-

Chapter 16: VS Skyler … sort of

-

Once I was back on the roof of the Tower of the Sky, I paused and looked around. Skyler had to be somewhere in the air, and I spotted him a distance away. "There you are!" I yelled, pointing my finger. A small cloud appeared in front of where I'd pointed.

It took me a moment to realize what I'd just done. Apparently when Skyler had swapped bodies with me, I'd ended up with his cloud-summoning ability. Figuring it would be pretty handy, I started running toward where I'd seen Skyler.

My new wolf tail got in front of my leg, however, and I ended up floored. "I wonder why Tails never trips like that," I said to myself as I got up. "On the other hand, maybe that's how he fell down the stairs last night."

Putting the thought away, I started jumping from cloud to cloud in pursuit of Skyler, who was flying along with hardly a care in the world. When he spotted me, he dove under the clouds and flew under them, but I got ahead of him and jumped on top of him.

The combined weight of Skyler and myself was harmful to our altitude, but he saved himself by gliding into the window of the Tower of the Sky. I grabbed the window ledge, climbed in, and followed him.

Skyler fled up the stairs, knowing he would be better off in the air than on the ground. I followed him, making sure my tail stayed behind me and didn't get in the way of my legs again. The chase led straight up to the top floor.

Once the both of us were at the top floor, I cornered Skyler near the ladder to the roof. "Return my body, and do it now," I commanded.

"Not yet," Skyler replied. "First, let's both have a little fun."

I knew what that meant.

Skyler made the first move and tried to rush me. I jumped over him, landed behind him, and kicked him from behind, knocking him to the ground. Approaching Skyler, I smirked at how easy this battle had turned out to be.

It was not quite as easy as I'd hoped. Skyler got up and shot a Flame Feather at me. I ducked, but it grazed the tip of my tail, setting it on fire. I noticed it just in time to get rid of the flames, and then turned my attention back to Skyler.

While I was distracted, though, Skyler had escaped to the roof. I dashed up the ladder and saw him, and he was shooting bluish-purple, turquoise, white, and orange feathers at me while hovering a few feet out of my reach. At least, it LOOKED like he was out of my reach.

I pointed, creating another cloud right beneath Skyler, and then used it as a platform to jump up and grab Skyler's leg, dragging him down to the ground.

THUD! For a moment, both of us lay on the roof of the tower. Skyler was the first to get up, and he grabbed the loose ends of my white scarf and tried to choke me, but I knocked him off by slapping his hands.

Feathers of all four colors scattered all over the ground as I knocked Skyler to the ground again. This time, I noticed that he was directly under the cloud I'd made to reach him earlier. I punctured the cloud with a purplish-blue feather, causing it to pour with rain.

Of course, Skyler was drenched. Furious, he tried to fly up above my head, but he was so water-logged, he couldn't get off the ground. Before he could dry himself out, I grabbed one of the Ice Feathers on the ground and applied it to his arm, freezing the water and encasing him in a layer of ice.

Skyler couldn't break free, so I thawed him with a Flame Feather. He struggled to get some words out: "I … I surrender. Okay, you can have your body back. I guess I'm more used to my own." He pointed to create a cloud, but nothing happened.

I laughed a little. "Not quite on the ball today, are you, Skyler? Allow me." I made a cloud right where Skyler had tried to make one. "On three, we both jump through the cloud," Skyler advised me. "One … two … THREE!"

As per Skyler's instructions, we both ball-jumped through the cloud, and I'm not sure whether or not we collided. When we landed, I checked myself to make sure I was back to normal. I was.

Skyler was back in his body, too. "Okay, now that that's done with … what was your reason for coming up here? Were you just exploring, or was it something else?"

"Something else," I replied. "I need a jar of blessed air."

"All the air up at this level is blessed," Skyler explained. "All you have to do is find a way to get a jar full of it."

I smirked. "No problem. I know just how to do that."

Rushing down the spiral stairs of the Tower of the Sky once again, I paused at one floor to retrieve an empty jar from a cabinet. From there, I took the window exit and glided down to the beach, where I reentered the Cave of Aqua.

Inside the Cave of Aqua, I dunked the jar underwater, let out all the air, and capped it before bringing it above water. I also said hi to W.T. while I was there.

It didn't take long for me to get back up to the roof of the Tower of the Sky, where I uncapped the jar and poured out all the water. As I did, I knew that the jar would refill with blessed air. I finished the job by wiping clear all the remaining water drops with a loose feather.

"Hey, nice job," Skyler remarked. "Go ahead, take it away." I climbed down the ladder and started back down the spiral staircase.

-

Sorry, no Quote of the Chapter this time. I gave you something else, though: a character profile for Skyler. It's longer than any two (maybe three) of Sk27's character profiles put together, so I bet he's a little jealous.

**Skyler the Wolf**  
"Skyler, Skyler the Wolf, master of the clouds." That's how he introduces himself, and the title is apt. Skyler is a bluish-purple wolf with a long white scarf. His domain is the sky, and under few circumstances does he ever come down; you've got to come to him. He can roll, ball-jump and Spin Dash just like Sonic can. To boot, he has the ability to summon small clouds almost anywhere, which can then be used as stationary platforms or to release rain. He can even use one of his clouds to swap bodies with someone else, but he seldom does so. For a wolf, Skyler is rather kind, and likes to have fun. When his "fun" is at the expense of others, though, things can get, well … what's the adjective I'm looking for? 


	17. Under the Feather

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: Eh, Deltoran, the talon thing just wouldn't work out. And I see Sk27 is still reviewing well as always. I see you finally got the address right. And … "out of hand" seems EXACTLY right. Thank you!

-

Chapter 17: Under the Feather

-

Reaching the bottom of the Tower of the Sky once more, I exited and headed straight for Tails' lab with the jar of blessed air in hand. Tails was waiting outside, and led me in the side door. "Did you get the jar of blessed air, Leo?"

I handed over the jar to Tails, and he got to work immediately. Within minutes, whatever he was working on was complete. "All right, Leo, come in here and get your wings open again."

This time around, Tails applied the towel to my right wing. I had gotten quite used to this procedure. _Ice, flame, light … what is it this time? I know that blessed air goes into it somewhere, but where? Well, I guess I'm going to find out._

"All right, Leo. Take it off."

Removing the towel from my conservative side (another one of those jokes, sorry), I returned it to Tails and checked the mirror once again. This time around, my wing was dyed green.

"Green feathers?" I asked.

"Wind Feathers," Tails explained. "They stir up air currents and blow things around when shot. Also useful for throwing opponents away."

I smirked. "Thanks, Tails." On a hunch, I picked one of my new green Wind Feathers and put it to my wing. Pulling it back, I shot it at a stack of papers. Air currents scattered them all over the room.

"Nice demonstration," Tails commented, "but next time I'd appreciate it if you tried it in a less messy way. Could you help me gather up those papers?"

"Sure, be happy to."

Tails and I started to gather up all the papers that had been scattered around the room. Some of them had strayed to places that we could only reach by flight. While we were gathering, I explained everything that'd happened at the Tower of the Sky.

"Whoa, that must've been something," Tails replied once I was done.

"Yeah, I agree," I concurred. "But you know what I don't get? When Skyler switched bodies with me, our colors weren't switched. Do you know why that was?"

Tails snapped his fingers, nearly dropping another sheet of paper. "Yes, I think I understand. Remember when you were initially transformed after coming here? Your body color was determined not by the animal, but by your own personality. The fact that your 'personality color' was red like a robin was just a coincidence."

_I guess that also explains why Sonic's blue,_ I thought to myself as I retrieved the last sheet of paper. _That Tails is a real know-it-all._

"So, Tails," I finally asked, "what is it you wanted for that last project?"

"That's the problem," Tails responded. "I just can't figure it out. Nothing I can think of would work."

"Maybe you can come with me on my next excursion," I suggested. "You might find something you can use."

Tails nodded. "Not a bad idea, Leo. I'll be sure to come along. Okay, that's finished now. Thanks for helping me gather all those papers."

"Anytime."

"So, where are you going this time?"

"I haven't quite figured that out yet. Let's just go outside and look around."

As Tails and I exited, a cute hedgehog girl showed up. "Tails! There you are! Ever since you told me how Metal Sonic got Sonic, I've been worried sick about … say, who's that guy next to you?"

Tails paused. "Oh, sorry, Amy. Amy, this is Leo. Leo, this is Amy Rose."

"Pleased," I commented as Amy and I shook hands. "So, what've you been doing lately? Besides worrying about Sonic?"

"I've been practicing my tarot card readings," Amy explained. "You want me to give you a reading? I've got my deck right here."

I stepped forward. "Sure, sounds good."

Amy came in, shuffled her deck a few times over, and finally started dealing cards out. After a moment, she spoke. "According to the cards, the two of you are in need of something, and you don't know what, but the answer will show itself soon."

Not knowing what this meant, but assured that it was wise advice, we thanked Amy and let her go. For the next few minutes we took a walk around Emerald Town, and happened to pass a television store.

A news program was on. "This is Kitty O'Brien here with today's news. Terrafirma Jungle, northwest of Emerald Town, has been the site of an amazing discovery. A mysterious building- some kind of base, we believe- has been unearthed. I'm here for an on-the-scene investigation."

The scene changed to reveal an impressive-looking building as Kitty continued. "It's not known where this building gets its electricity, but it looks very impressive. I'd say more, but my claws are beginning to give out … I can't cling to this tree much longer … sorry, folks, that's all for- AAGH!" THUD!

I faced Tails. "I don't know about you, but I think we should do some on-the-scene investigating ourselves." Tails agreed, and we headed off.

-

Another new character now, but she's not in the story just yet. Stay tuned!

Quote of the Chapter:  
"Prince Pete's Pizza Parlor. Prince Pete's Pizza Parlor. Pince Prete's Pizza- darn it"  
-Me, _Special Delivery_, Ch. 1 


	18. Terrafirma Jungle

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: Eh, you'll find out for yourself what the next feather type will be. There won't be any more after that; besides, Tails is running out of places to apply the towels. (laugh) Okay, on we go.

-

Chapter 18: Terrafirma Jungle

-

As we entered the jungle, we noticed a sign. It read as follows: "CAUTION: Terrafirma Jungle has several patches of quicksand. Try to stay off the ground as much as possible."

Tails examined the ground. "Whoever installed that sign knew what he was talking about. I think there's quicksand starting from here. I wonder how Kitty O'Brien got all the way in there."

"Well, during that on-the-scene broadcast, she was using her claws to cling to a tree," I reminded Tails. "Look at the trees. If you check the trunks carefully, you can see claw marks. Kitty must have clung to the tree trunks to stay above ground."

I started my wings. "We get to do it the easy way, though."

Tails responded by starting his tails, and we both hovered above the ground as we proceeded. I began to whistle a tune to pass the time, but Tails stopped me. "Leo," he told me, "you couldn't carry a tune if you had a bucket."

I got the message, and stopped whistling. The jungle was filled with trees, vines, and all sorts of other stereotypical-jungle features. It was a little boring, actually. Occasionally we'd both perch on a tree branch to rest and scout out the remaining area, then continue.

Eventually, Tails hesitated. "Wait a minute, Leo. I think we're going in circles."

"Nonsense," I assured my two-tailed friend. "I know we're going in a straight line. I don't know how; I just know. It's like I have a compass in my head or something."

Tails blinked. "Well, if you say so. Let's continue."

We continued through the jungle. It was very monotonous, and that may be an understatement. I thought I saw a snake coiled around a branch at one point, but I kept my nerve and didn't flinch.

Finally, I pushed aside a few leaves, and revealed a small building. It looked like some kind of base, just like the one we'd seen on the TV broadcast earlier.

Standing in front of the base was none other than Kitty O'Brien. When she saw us, she confronted us. "Wait a minute, you two. I don't know why you came here, but we've closed off this area for investigation. I can't allow you to go any further."

"But we have to get in there," Tails protested. "We're investigating what's inside."

"You'd better leave that to the professionals," Kitty responded cattily (ha ha).

At that moment, though, Kitty's phone rang, and she answered it. "Hello? … Yes, I'm there. … Well, actually, two other guys showed up just now. … Okay, okay, I'm coming back."

Kitty hung up. "Sorry, I've got to split. Try to catch me on the evening news."

"We will," I replied, "if we can make it out of this jungle by then."

As Kitty left, we approached the building. "Looks impressive," Tails mentioned. "How do you think we get in? There doesn't seem to be any door."

I searched the bushes on the ground. "There's got to be some kind of entrance somewhere. I can hear machinery inside. Hey, the ground is covered in leaves. They might conceal something; they always do in movies."

Taking careful aim, I shot a green Wind Feather across the ground, blowing away the leaves. I then dashed around and shot another Wind Feather, and repeated the process until the perimeter of the fortress was cleared of leaves.

Once all the leaves were gone, Tails examined the area where the leaves had been, and quickly found a secret tunnel. "I think this leads inside," Tails explained. "Come on, let's check it out."

We both entered the tunnel.

-

Sorry, all out of things to say here. Can't you tell? I'm going to make another character profile, though.

**Kitty O'Brien**  
Kitty O'Brien is the most well-known on-the-scene news reporter in all of Emerald Town, and I don't say that just because of her good looks. She'll do almost anything, go almost anywhere, for an on-the-scene scoop. Her main tools for such endeavors are her sharp claws, which she can use to affix herself to walls, fences and other vertical surfaces. In fact, her climbing abilities rival those of even Knuckles. Since this technique does not leave her hands free to hold a microphone, she wears a headset. Her overall color is a light gray, but Kitty compensates for how male that looks by wearing a light purple dress. One has to wonder how her cameraman manages to keep up! 


	19. Alyer Base

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: …Wow, those were some lengthy reviews from both Nail Strafer and Deltoran Merchant. The latter addressed several of the former's points, so I'll just back off and continue the story.

-

Chapter 19: Alyer (AHL-yur) Base

-

Tails and I emerged from the tunnel. The base was a lot bigger on the inside than on the outside. "That secret tunnel was pretty well hidden," Tails commented. "It's a lucky thing for us, too; Kitty couldn't find it to guard it."

"You can say that again," I agreed. "So, what kind of base is this?"

Looking around, we both spotted a plaque on the wall. It read:

ALYER BASE  
No visitors!

"Alyer Base?" I muttered. "That has got to be the worst pun in the world." Tails didn't respond.

As we progressed, the sounds of machinery filled the air. I suggested that this base might belong to Dr. Eggman, but Tails denied it; the architecture just wasn't his style. Besides, Dr. Egghead would never fit through that tunnel. It had to be someone else.

"Who?" I asked. "You're the only other one I know who has the kind of mechanical know-how to design something like this."

"I just don't know," Tails replied. "It looks a little old, but something has to keep it powered. Let's try to find a generator or something."

I nodded, and we proceeded.

As we explored the base, the various machines that kept it running clunked, grinded, and hissed in an intricate rhythm. It was as if they were all part of an orchestra of mechanical parts, and we were searching for the conductor.

(For some reason, I'm very delighted with the use of the metaphor in that last line. I think it's some of my better work. -Author)

Tails pushed open a door that had been carelessly left ajar, revealing a room filled with large rotating gears. Some turned clockwise, and some turned counterclockwise. It was all quite intimidating, to say the least.

"The door to the next room is all the way over there," I pointed out. "Problem is, all these gears form a pretty big maze. Come on; we should be able to cross by flying."

I started my wings, Tails spun his twin tails, and we both lifted off. The trek was a little harder than it appeared at first, since we had to avoid getting caught in and minced by the numerous gears, but we began to make good time.

Tragedy struck, however, when Tails got too close to a gear. His tails got caught in it, and he was about to get killed. I jammed the gears with an Ice Feather and pulled him loose just in time.

"Thanks a lot," Tails told me.

"Anytime," I assured the fox. "Let's get going. The door's right over there."

Kicking the door open, I proceeded with Tails following. The base's halls were not sufficiently long and straight for racing down at coast speed, but it was tempting sometimes. The sounds of machinery had gotten louder, which meant that we were getting closer to the generator.

The journey stopped abruptly in front of a large door marked "ELECTRICAL ROOM". It wasn't locked, so Tails and I pushed it open.

Beyond the door was a huge room, in which we saw a large device. It looked like it stored power that was inputted from … somewhere … before using it to power the various machinery in the base.

Other aspects of the room included the far wall, which was completely grated over, a skylight at the top, which was controlled by a panel in the corner of the room, and a platform high up in the back which hosted the main control panel. Someone was there.

The platform was out of reach by normal means, but that was no problem for flight-capable adventurers such as Tails and myself. As I approached the platform, I shut my wings and landed squarely on it. Tails landed in a similar fashion.

Taking a look myself, I noted that the figure at the control panel was a yellow-and-black-striped tiger. The yellow stripes looked just like lightning bolts. Every so often he paused to take something out of a small bag and gulp it down. "Who are you?" Tails shouted at this figure.

Slowly, the figure turned to face us. "Me? I'm Lightning Tiger. You can call me Lightning for short. Ever since I discovered this base, I've been keeping it running out of boredom."

"Well, it's something to do," I commented. "What keeps this place powered?" I glanced over at a small television that Lightning had set up; it was showing a news report.

Taking a deep breath, Lightning explained. "I do. My powers of electricity and lightning are unlimited, but every so often I gulp down one of these electric capsules to keep myself energized. Here, try a few if you want."

Lightning took a few of the things he'd been eating out of his bag and tossed them to us. I tried one, and got an immediate electric shock. It didn't taste bad, though. Tails put one in his mouth as well, and got the same result.

After recovering, Tails snapped his fingers. "Wait a minute, Leo. I think one of these things would be exactly what I need for my last feather project. I'll keep this last one. Could you hold on to it for me, Leo?"

I took the capsule and pocketed it in my wing as Lightning spoke again. "By the way, did you happen to notice what was written on the plaque in front of the entrance tunnel?"

"Yes," Tails replied. "It said 'Alyer Base'. Which is a lousy name for a base."

"And after that?"

"Er, 'No Visitors'."

"Exactly. And I have an obligation to 'punish' those who disobey that rule."

Just as I was about to interject, a voice from the entrance startled all three of us. "Who's in there?"

Tails and I both recognized the source of the voice: "Kitty O'Brien!"

Kitty approached the grated wall and used her claws to scale it. "A red bird and a two-tailed fox … I recognize the two of you. You were the guys I tried to turn away back outside earlier! I am going to take you down, right now!"

Lightning rubbed his hands together. "I was just about to do the same thing! Let's do it together." Kitty nodded.

-

Whoa, extra-long chapter here, isn't it? Sorry, but that really tired me out, so I'll skip the Quote of the Chapter. By the way, did you know that W.T. is Tails' … no, better not mention it. That'd only support one of Nail's arguments. 


	20. VS Lightning and Kitty

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: Deltoran Merchant, Nail Strafer … enough, both of you. If you're going to argue with each other, don't do so in the reviews of my story. And sorry, D.M., but I've got no openings for any more fan characters in this story.

-

Chapter 20: VS Lightning and Kitty

-

"This isn't good," Tails mentioned as Kitty and Lightning approached us. "I mean, we're outnumbered two to two!"

"Outnumbered two to two?" I repeated. "Tails, that makes no sense." Tails caught his mistake immediately, and fell silent.

"In any case," I added, "we won't be able to win without a plan. Tails, Kitty will probably go after me first, so I'll focus on her while you take Lightning Tiger."

"Why do you think Kitty will go after you?" Tails asked.

"Come on," I explained. "A cat going after a bird. It's only natural."

Kitty O'Brien made the first move and tried to chop me in half with her claws. I jumped back, and tried to nail her in the face with a feather, but she ducked it.

Thinking quickly, I leaped over the guardrail and opened my wings, hovering in mid-air. Kitty reacted by removing her headset and throwing it at me like a boomerang, hitting me in the head and causing me to fall.

Meanwhile, Lightning Tiger charged up an electric blast and unleashed it, almost frying Tails, but he dodged it at the last second. He then spun his tails and used an aerial dive to smack Lightning. It didn't work, though; Lightning countered with an electric shield.

Falling to the ground, Tails managed to kick Lightning, knocking him over the guardrail. He landed right on top of Kitty, which wasn't so hot, as she was on top of me. I quickly found myself at the bottom of a three-member heap.

Since I was lying face down, my wings were above me, so I managed to get them open, throwing off Kitty and Lightning. I then returned to the control panel platform with Tails.

Lightning got up. "Hey! Don't touch anything up there!"

By now, Lightning's television was showing a weather report. Tails and I both overheard part of the broadcast: "… Right now it's pouring rain in Terrafirma Jungle, which is a bit of a surprise since it was clear just earlier …"

Tails' face suddenly brightened, which I interpreted as a sudden idea. He dropped down and raced to the corner of the room, signaling for me to protect him.

I shot a feather at Lightning as he was approaching Tails. It hit squarely, knocking him to the ground. I smirked at my temporary victory as Tails did something to the skylight controls.

R-RUMBLE! The skylight creaked open. Just as the weather report had mentioned, it was raining heavily. Rain poured through the skylight, drenching Kitty and Lightning with water.

Lightning got up. "That was very amusing, fox, but it takes more than water to harm me." He tried to charge up an electric blast, but quickly found himself on the receiving end of the shock. He went unconscious immediately.

Even Kitty found this slight misfortune amusing. "Here's a news story for you, fellow: water and electricity don't mix." She then climbed up the grate to the platform, where she shook herself dry the way any cat does.

I hovered just out of Kitty's reach in front of the platform. Furious, Kitty jumped for me, missed, and landed right in Tails' arms. Tails then went to the trouble of throwing Kitty to the ground, knocking her out just like Lightning was.

A few minutes later, Kitty and Lightning both got up. "Man, you guys can lay down a beating," Lightning finally said.

Kitty concurred. "I'd like to interview you guys about this victory, but it's almost time for the evening news, so I've got to split. I'll share a saying with you, though. I picked it up while interviewing the one and only Knuckles the Echidna."

Tails folded his arms. "And that would be?"

"_Seven emeralds, seven heroes. The moment of truth will come at the moment of despair,_" Kitty quoted. "I have no idea what it means, but maybe you can think of something. Gotta go!"

After that, Kitty dashed off. Tails and I nodded to each other, and took the skylight exit. We got onto the roof of the base okay, but it was still raining, and my wings tended to get water-logged when wet. Tails had to air-lift me to the outskirts of the jungle.

-

Like I said earlier, I have trouble doing scripted battles. Did this one come out okay? I hope it did, though I have my doubts.

-

Quote of the Chapter:  
"We were sort of cruising along in our biplane, the Tornado, looking for something to do. We found it on a nearby island."  
-Narrator, _Sonic 3 and Knuckles: The Retelling_, Ch. 1 


	21. Sorry, All Out of Feather Puns

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: … If you don't like my battle scenes, Nail Strafer, why don't you write them yourself? I know I privately e-mailed you about what you said, but I'm not sure it helped very much.

-

Chapter 21: Sorry, All Out of Feather Puns

-

The door into Tails' lab swung open, and the two of us stepped inside. "So," I asked, "do you think you can finish that project now?"

"Absolutely," Tails explained. "This'll only take a moment. Could you pass that electricity capsule to me?"

I calmly searched my wing for the capsule and pitched it to Tails. "Thanks," he called. "This won't take long."

As Tails worked on his experimenting, we traded stories about what'd happened since I'd first arrived in Emerald Town. I told him in more detail about what'd happened in the pyramid and Nack's mine, then Tails told me in just as much detail about Metal Sonic's attack on him, then I told him in a good amount of detail about the Cave of Aqua incident.

"By the way," I finally asked, "I never thought of asking you about this before, but … just what relation do you have, if any, to this Water Tails guy? It seems a little odd."

Tails showed a little hesitancy in responding, but he gave a quick answer. "Well, he's actually … he's my brother."

I nearly fainted. "Brother? You never told me you had a brother. Why didn't you mention it before?"

"It's a subject I don't like to discuss," Tails explained. "I'm not exactly on good terms with him. Can we drop the subject?"

"But-"

"Drop the subject, Leo. Shut your beak."

Getting the message, I fell silent until Tails was done. We followed through with a familiar procedure, as I held out my right arm as Tails instructed, and he draped a chemical-soaked towel over it.

I lost myself in thought as I waited. _Let's see. The lantern oil for the Flame Feathers, the glowing seashell for the Light Feathers, the blessed air for the Wind Feathers … guess this one has something to do with electricity. Man, this is no surprise anymore …_

"Okay, Leo."

Tails took the towel away from me, and I examined my arm. The feathers were a bright yellow color. "Electric feathers?"

"Yellow feathers," Tails replied without thinking. "Er- well, I mean, yes, electric feathers. Bolt Feathers, if I may. They're used for-"

"For energizing electric devices and giving enemies electric shocks," I interrupted. "Yes, yes, I know."

"Man, Leo, you just can't be surprised anymore, can you?"

I casually withdrew one of my new feathers and shot it at the lab's fusebox. Tails and I had to avert my eyes as electricity sparked around the fusebox, finally ceasing when one of the circuit breakers flipped and cut the power.

Tails' head was in his hands. "Ugh. Leo, I know you like to test out your new feathers, but next time, how about doing it in a way that won't deactivate my entire lab?"

"Sorry, Tails," I replied as Tails fiddled with the fusebox until he restored power to the lab. "Are you done with your experiments?"

"I think I am," Tails confirmed. "You should be more than ready to face Eggman and Metal Sonic now, so it's a good thing."

"Right then," I agreed. "Any idea where they are?"

"I can't say for sure. How about rechecking that pyramid you first saw them in?"

"Yeah, that's a great idea. I'm going right away."

Leaving those words in the air, I proudly strode back to the exit door. My wings got caught on the door frame again, though, and I fell back and hit the floor again. Well, I would have, but Tails saw me in time to rush forward and catch me.

I laughed a little. "Thanks for that, Tails. You'd think I wouldn't make the same mistake twice."

Getting up, I shut my wings before exiting the building.

By now, the time was around six in the afternoon. Emerald Town looked amazing at this time of day. I paused to look around before progressing to the desert area.

The metallic cover that blocked the pyramid's secondary exit was gone. As I perched on the ledge and looked at the hole, I remembered how I'd escaped Metal Sonic's clutches the previous day by flying up this shaft and dropping the cover on his head.

As soon as I landed at the bottom of the shaft, I saw that Metal Sonic had been waiting for me. "So you've come," he began. "I've been waiting for you here."

"I see that," I muttered. "Have you been waiting long?"

"Merely since yesterday. Hmm … Scan of subject 'Leo' complete."

"Scan of-? What's that supposed to mean?"

"That does not concern you. It's time for me to eliminate you."

-

It's as good a way to end a chapter as any, I suppose.

Next chapter: "VS Metal Sonic, Round 2"

Quote of the Chapter:  
"… that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing… oh, sorry."

-Narrator, _Leo's Brain Drain_, Ch. 3 


	22. VS Metal Sonic, Pt 2

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: I just realized that I've been lazy when writing chapters all this time. That's why they lacked description. I went back to a few lines in this chapter and fine-tuned them, more than doubling their length. And Nail Strafer … where are you?

-

Chapter 22: VS Metal Sonic, Pt. 2

-

It all happened in a split second: Metal Sonic's rocket boosters hummed to life, and he jetted forward right at me. Reacting with reflexes that surprised even myself, I got my wings moving and rose a few feet above the ground. Metal Sonic zoomed right under me, missing completely.

Knowing what effect it would have on Metal Sonic, I shot a Bolt Feather directly at him. He was too fast for me, though, and dodged it without even breaking a sweat. Of course, robots really don't sweat, so I guess that's a moot point.

When I looked again, Metal Sonic was coming right at me. I had absolutely no time to dodge, and he got me in a tackle. The two of us zoomed through the air like a meteor, and landed right in a pile of jars, shattering some of them.

Panting, I managed to return to a standing position. I was angry by now, and jumped into the air, curling into a tight ball as I went. I slammed into Metal Sonic with amazing force, but when I got up and looked, I saw that Metal Sonic had not even been scratched.

I could see a hint of evil in Metal Sonic's eyes as he charged up a laser blast in an instant and shot it at me, sending me flying across the room. I recovered fairly quickly, but I was a little torn up.

Furious, I shot a blizzard of feathers at him, but none of them connected; Metal Sonic was just too fast for me. Dr. Eggman had definitely upgraded him since I'd run into him the previous day, because he wasn't this fast then.

_It's no use,_ I thought as Metal Sonic kept throwing attacks at me. _He can't be harmed with direct attacks, and he keeps dodging my feathers. If only there was a way to shut off that jet engine of his and ground him … Wait! That's it!_

I was nearly nailed by another laser blast, but ducked it. I then got up in the air eight or so feet above the ground, and Metal Sonic followed suit and tried to punch me, only to get an Ice Feather shoved into his jet engine.

The sudden temperature drop the Ice Feather caused disabled the jet engine, and Metal Sonic plummeted to the ground. I took advantage and shot a Bolt Feather, scoring a direct hit and causing Metal Sonic to short-circuit and deactivate.

From how I described the battle, you might be influenced to think that it was somewhat easy, but trust me, it was anything but that. By the time I was finished, I was so exhausted I plummeted to the ground and had to lie there for a few minutes before I could recover.

The beeping of the Tails phone woke me, and I answered it. "Tails? Did you need something?"

"Yes, I need something," Tails replied, a hint of panic in his voice. "I need help! Another Dr. Eggman robot has been sent to capture me, and I can't fight it off for much longer. The problem is, it's really tough, since it was made in the image of- AGH!"

"Tails? Tails? …The connection's been cut."

I was filled with alarm. What had happened to Tails? Had he been killed? I could not just stand here and do nothing. I opened my wings and retreated up the exit shaft, making a beeline for Emerald Town.

From the roof of Tails' lab, I had a perfect view through the skylight of what was going on inside. Tails was cornered by a red robot that looked rather familiar. I couldn't get a good look, though, so I dropped through the skylight to get closer.

As soon as I landed, the robot turned to face me, and I balked upon getting a good look at it. What Metal Sonic was to Sonic, this robot was to me. He was painted in colors to match the way my feathers were dyed, and his wings had jet engines installed in them, since his heavy metallic body made it impossible to fly like I could.

"Leave Tails alone!" I shouted.

"Negative," the robot (who will henceforth be referred to as Metal Leo) responded. "If you intend to get in my way, I must eliminate you."

_How cliché,_ was what my mind said. "I won't let you do that," was what my beak said. "Prepare to be defeated!"

-

So there. The Quote of the Chapter is something different this time.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"'No comment' is a comment."  
-George Carlin 


	23. VS Metal Leo

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: Sorry this took so long. I was undergoing a mild stage of depression. I'm over it now, so here's the chapter.

-

Chapter 23: VS Metal Leo  
(Hold on to your hat, this is gonna take up the entire chapter)

-

Since Metal Leo had turned his attention to me, he was not watching Tails. Tails took the opportunity to sidle off to the side, where he crawled up beside me and copied my fighting pose.

"I can't let you steal the show all the time, can I?" Tails explained. "Come on, Leo. It's two against one. Your robotic twin doesn't stand half a chance!"

Giving Tails the thumbs-up, I faced Metal Leo. "All right, robot, let's see what you can do. I'll let you make the first move."

I picked up a hint of anger in Metal Leo's eyes. In one smooth motion, he rose his hand and pointed his finger directly at me. In a fraction of a second, a blood-red blast of energy formed and shot forward in the direction he pointed.

By the time Tails and I realized what Metal Leo was doing, it was too late. The energy blast connected directly with my shoulder and disintegrated with so much force that I keeled back and hit the floor with a resounding THUNK!

Tails rushed to my side. "Leo! Are you all right?"

"I think I'm okay," I explained, "but next time, I think I'll play offense."

Tails had to agree. "I guess those energy blasts are like your feathers. I think we'll be fine if we can keep track of their colors."

During this short conversation between me and Tails, Metal Leo had taken the opportunity to sneak behind the two of us. As I got up, Tails spotted Metal Leo, but there was insufficient time to react defensively.

Metal Leo pointed again, sending another blast of energy whizzing through the air. This one was a fiery orange color, and when it shattered against my left wing, I caught fire in an instant.

I was panicked. "T-Tails, quick, help me put it out!"

Tails grabbed a fire extinguisher from a shelf on the wall and sprayed me with it, getting me soaking wet but putting out the flames.

He then turned to face Metal Leo, and put the fire extinguisher on full blast, but Metal Leo wasn't fooled so easily. He shot from his finger a blast of light blue ice energy which was sufficient to freeze the fire extinguisher's spray solid.

The ground battle was becoming boring, so Metal Leo decided to take to the skies. He jumped up, and I caught a glimpse of the jet engines on his wings as they flared to life, supporting him as he hovered in the air.

"So we're taking this battle to the sky," I commented. "All right, so be it!"

My own wings were in motion almost immediately, and my height quickly matched that of Metal Leo. Tails whirled his twin tails around like helicopter blades, and he joined the two of us above ground.

"Say, Tails," I whispered to Tails, "how _do_ you do that, anyway?"

"It's all a matter of angling my tails to deflect the wind in the right direction," Tails responded off-handedly.

"No," I interjected, "I mean … how do you spin your tails like that without them getting-"

My question remained unfinished, not to mention unanswered. Metal Leo had used a green energy blast, and green meant wind, to take advantage of how vulnerable we were. This blast struck Tails in a direct hit, tearing him from the air. I looked helplessly at Tails as he plummeted.

SPLASH! Tails fell directly into one of the vats of chemicals he'd used to dye my feathers. Glancing at the color of the vat's contents, I recognized this particular chemical mixture as the Flame Feather mixture.

When Tails emerged, his fur was dyed a deep orange. "Great," he muttered. "This shade of orange just isn't my color at all."

I swooped down and helped Tails climb out of the vat. "Tails, this is no time to worry about that."

Unfortunately, Metal Leo had slipped behind me again, and attempted to throw me into the vat that Tails had just fallen into. I reacted quickly this time, though, and opened my wings as wide as I could, snagging the edge of the vat and keeping me dry.

After Tails helped me out of the vat, Metal Leo attempted to rush us. "Scramble!" Tails yelled, and we split up. Metal Leo missed us both completely, colliding with a stack of documents on the table. Recognizing these documents as the same ones I had sent flying when I was testing my Wind Feathers, I couldn't help but chuckle a little.

Looking over at Metal Leo's collision, Tails realized that now was his chance. He landed on the ground right in front of him as he got up, and spun around, knocking Metal Leo backwards with his trademark tail-whip attack.

As Tails performed this attack, the documents on the floor where the two of them were standing suddenly burst into flame. All three of us were shocked by this turn of events, but I was able to connect this happenstance with Tails' bath in the Flame Feather dye.

I was able to fence in the fire with Ice Feathers, but by now the smoke had made it barely possible for anyone to see anything. I found myself shooting feathers blindly, and I may have hit Tails once or twice.

Metal Leo managed to pierce the smokescreen with another blast of green wind energy. He was open to attack for a split second, which was ample time for me to spot him and hit right on target with a Bolt Feather.

The electric shock caused by the Bolt Feather sparked all over Metal Leo. Tails smiled as he watched him short-circuit and lose power, until finally Metal Leo couldn't stand upright, and dropped to the floor.

I stood in front of my counterpart. "Any last requests, my replica?"

Metal Leo took me by surprise and grabbed my leg, applying a mild electric shock to me. Before I knew what was happening, I felt dizzy and fell to the ground, my consciousness leaving me.

The last thing I remember before I lost myself completely was me and Metal Leo lying on the floor of Tails' lab, unable to move and surrounded by burnt documents.

-

I think that pretty much says it all.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"I told you to take the blueprints. The blueprints are right here. You grabbed a crossword puzzle I was working on."  
-Tails, _New Challenges_, Ch. 1 


	24. Identity Crisis

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: Well … I've never really thought about that, Deltoran Merchant. I may take that into account later. But for now …

-

Chapter 24: Identity Crisis

-

My double woke up before I did. He must have. When I recovered, he wasn't on the floor there. And … come to think of it, wasn't I lying over _there_, while _he_ was lying here?

It took half the energy out of my body, but I managed to get off the ground and stand in a stable position. I must've been exhausted, since my body felt heavier than the dining room table back home. I felt like I weighed half a ton.

Metal Leo was nowhere to be seen, so I peered out the window. I happened to catch a glimpse of red in the distance that resembled myself. No question about it: this was him. _What a coward,_ I thought to myself.

I then turned to face Tails. "Well, now that that's out of the way … hey, what's wrong, Tails? Don't look at me like that. I'm not going to give you the avian flu or anything. What are you afraid of, Tails? What are you- ACK!"

Tails rushed me before I even had a time to blink. I was caught in a diving tackle, and we were both on the floor in an instant. "I can't let you escape," he yelled out. "I'll finish you, for Leo's sake!"

Frustrated, I pulled Tails off. "What do you mean, for Leo's sake? I'M Leo!"

"Really?" Tails responded, backing off.

"Of course I am," I assured him. "Who did you think I was?"

"See for yourself," Tails commented, casually gesturing at the full-length mirror. I approached it and examined my reflection- and I can't believe I didn't faint right there.

Yes, you guessed it. I wasn't me. I was Metal Leo. My feathered exterior was now cold and metallic, and my wings now had jet engines mounted on them. That metallic jerk had swapped bodies with me when he applied the electric shock at the end of the battle.

"I still don't believe that you're really Leo," Tails challenged me. "Can you prove it?"

"Yes," I shot back. "As a matter of fact, I can. Ask me anything."

"Very well. What was the ingredient I asked you to bring me so I could complete the Ice Feathers?"

"Balderdash! You didn't need me to bring you any ingredients for that!"

"Right. Remember the sensors you had to sabotage with Ice Feathers in the mine? How many were there?"

"One, two, three … there were four."

"Uh-huh. What was the name of the base in Terrafirma Jungle?"

"Alyer Base. And I still think that's a terrible pun."

"Hm… all right, I'm convinced. Where do you think Metal Leo went with your body?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Don't look at me. Wherever he is, though, he's got the Tails phone. He might call you and try to trick you into helping him."

"If that happens," Tails assured me, "I'll just pretend to comply, and then boomerang it on him."

"Ha ha … good thinking, Tails. Hey, I laid down quite a beating to me … I mean, Metal Leo laid down quite a beating to … well, you know what I mean. Would you mind checking me for damages?"

"Sure," Tails agreed. "This shouldn't take long."

Leading me to what looked like an operating table, Tails instructed me to lie down on it. I complied, and Tails started to examine my entire body from head to feet, writing things down on a clipboard.

The entire process took about half an hour. Tails repainted some locations where paint had been scraped off, replaced some wires that had been knocked loose, squeezed out some dents in my body, oiled some rusty joints, and even gave me a thorough polishing.

Once we were all done, I felt brand new. "Thanks, Tails," I cheered, high-fiving him. "You should be a doctor."

"It's getting really late," Tails interrupted. "I've got to go to bed. Just let me charge your battery for a moment, and we'll be all done."

Tails opened up a panel on my leg and connected a plug to it. The electricity pulsed from the connection point to the rest of my body, and it felt very warm. I just relaxed and let it work. After a few minutes, a BEEP sounded, signaling that the battery was full, and Tails disconnected the plug.

I watched Tails leave the room. Now that I was a robot, I really didn't need any sleep, so I remained where I was.

Since Metal Leo had been created in my image, my new body wasn't much different from my old one. Well, you know what I mean. Still, it had a few differences, so I took a moment to practice my moves.

As a start, I sent a signal to the jets on my wings, and they whooshed to life. My feet left the ground, and by controlling the power of the jets, I managed to keep myself hovering a few feet above the ground before shutting them off and dropping down.

Now for the feathers. I pointed my right index finger at the floor and sent a signal to it, and a red energy blast shot from it and hit the ground, disintegrating on impact. I then mentally adjusted myself and fired a light blue ice energy blast at a nearby sink, freezing the water dripping from it.

I knew what came next. Another metal adjustment, and I unfroze the frozen drips with an orange flame blast. A yellow lightning blast to the lamp that illuminated the room overloaded it and plunged the entire room into darkness, so I shot a white light blast to illuminate the area.

As a finale, I chose a green wind blast and hit a clipboard, blowing it off the table and sending it clattering to the ground with a brilliant noise.

Tails peeked in on me. "Don't make such a racket! I'm trying to sleep!"

"Sorry," I admitted. "I guess I got a little reckless."

I left the lab as Tails returned to his bed. "I wonder where that devious doppleganger could have gone," I thought aloud. "I have to find him, or I'll never get my body back. Not that this body's all that bad, but still …"

An unknown voice caught my attention. "Leo has exited the lab. Now is my chance!"

Tails' voice pierced the air, causing me to jump. "AIEEEEEE!"

I looked around in a panic. "Tails? What happened? Don't worry, I'll save you!" With all possible haste, I returned to the lab's interior.

-

An identity switch, a mysterious voice, and a scream from a friend. Now how's that for a cliffhanger?

Quote of the Chapter:  
"But I like to keep my audience on edge. Try not to fall off, please."  
-End-of-chapter note, _One Dark Night_, Ch. 1 


	25. VS, well, find out yourself!

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: Sorry for the delay. I had a little trouble getting motivated. On with the story! (And I've decided that I will indeed make a sequel.)

-

Chapter 25: VS Alternate Leo

-

Yes, that was Metal Leo, the jerk who'd switched bodies with me. He had slipped back into the lab while I was out and snatched Tails while he had his guard down. An unconscious Tails was now dangling by his tails from Metal Leo's grasped hand. A fresh bump was on Tails' head; my doppleganger must have clubbed him.

I approached the culprit. "You're not going anywhere with Tails," I called out. "Drop him!"

"It figures you'd be back," he replied, ignoring my remark. "When we first battled, I realized that even though I was built in your image, you were still much more powerful than I was. Dr. Eggman anticipated this, so he equipped me with the ability to steal your body."

"And leave me with your body," I added. "Not too witty, Meta… wait, you really can't be called Metal Leo anymore, I guess, now that you're me. What can I call you? How about Alternate Leo? That doesn't sound too bad."

"Don't get hung up on names, fool! Now, let me finish. Obviously, now that I've got your body and you've got mine, I have all the power you had primarily. And don't count on getting it back. You don't even know how the body switch trick works, and I don't intend to tell you!"

I nearly fell over. "Ugh! You're a sly one. That won't get in my way, though. I don't need that stupid trick to put us back to the way we were. I have friends."

"Friends! Your friends won't help you here!"

"As if I need them to lay down a thorough beating to you!"

Around that time, Tails regained consciousness and opened his eyes. "Let me go!" he yelled as he slapped Alternate Leo's hand and pulled himself free, falling to the ground.

When Tails got up, he looked at me, then at Alternate Leo, then at me again. It looked like he was having trouble deciding who was on whose side.

"C'mon, Tails," Alternate Leo told him, "what are you waiting for? Let's take my robotic twin together!"

Tails was still too dazed from his blow to remember what had happened that evening, so he didn't have any reason to disbelieve Alternate Leo. "All right, Leo," he agreed, "that robotic jerk is going down!"

_Oh man,_ I thought to myself. _It's two against one, and I'm the one. I've never battled with the numbers against me like this before. I'm in trouble._

I tried to explain. "Tails, wait! Remember this evening? I'm Leo, and you're next to my alternate! He stole my body, and left me with his own!"

"As if I'd ever believe THAT wild tale," Tails shot back. "You're wasting your voice chip!"

_It's no good,_ I thought to myself. _That blow must've given him some major amnesia. He can't remember a thing about this evening. Tails, I hope you'll forgive me for doing this…_

I raised my hand and pointed at Tails. For a split second, my index finger glowed red, then an energy blast of the same color launched from it and headed straight for the two-tailed fox.

Not one to be fooled easily, Tails spun his twin tails and lifted off the ground. The energy blast I'd fired passed right under him. With a smirk, Tails then launched forward in an attempt to ram me.

Seeing what Tails was doing, I reacted immediately. I crouched, then spun around and around like a ballerina, keeping level with Tails. One of my metallic wings connected with Tails' head, and he crashed to the ground.

Alternate Leo didn't intend to be left out of this entire spectacle. He withdrew a yellow Bolt Feather from his arm, placed it on his wing, pulled back, and shot the golden projectile at me.

Upon seeing it, I balked. _That's a Bolt Feather! I can't let that hit me. I know what it does to robots. Here goes …_

Fortunately, I knew how to counter something like this. Raising my arm once again, I shot a green wind energy blast at the oncoming feathery projectile. Both projectiles collided, and the Bolt Feather found itself fluttering harmlessly to the ground.

"Split up and slam him!" Tails yelled out, and Alternate Leo nodded. Tails flew left, Alternate Leo flew right, and they attempted to smash me between them. For a moment it looked like I would get sandwiched.

I wasn't so easily defeated, though. A simple aerial dodge fixed my oncoming problem, and fur and feathers slammed right into each other with a resounding noise. I couldn't resist a quick laugh.

"Don't be so stupid, Tails," Alternate Leo snarled. "That was the worst attack move I have ever seen!"

"It's not my fault," Tails shot back. "You are the one who- LEO! LOOK OUT!"

Too late! I had shot a flame blast at Alternate Leo's wing, and it connected, setting it on fire. In a quick reaction, Tails grabbed the same fire extinguisher he'd used when this had happened earlier that evening, and had the fire out immediately.

That was where the strategy came in, though. I mentally switched myself to ice mode and shot a light blue icy energy blast. Since Alternate Leo was soaking wet, the blast froze the water, and he was coated in ice in an instant.

Tails was furious. "That was cheating! Now I'm going to get serious!"

It was go time! Tails lunged at me with a diving kick, and followed with a barrage of punches and kicks that I had a hard time blocking. His finisher was a resounding tail-whip, knocking me across the room.

CRASH! I slammed into a bookshelf, knocking some books out. I was caught in a hail of novels, reference books, and a few picture books. Taking advantage, I threw the hardcovers and paperbacks at Tails one at a time.

Tails had impeccable reflexes, though. He caught every single book and threw aside five encyclopedias, three picture books, an operator's guide, and two novels … until he misjudged a dictionary, and it got him right between the ears.

All of a sudden, Tails' expression changed from anger to surprise. The second blow to Tails' head must've jarred his cranium enough to cure his amnesia, I guess.

It was then that Tails remembered everything, and he fell to his knees and burst into tears. "I'm terribly sorry, Leo. I completely forgot what'd happened to you. I hope you'll forgive me."

"I forgive you," I assured him. "I can understand the error. Heck, I bet you've treated your own brother in worse ways. By the way, Tails, I need you to do something real quick."

Tails looked up. "What?"

It took a moment to explain to Tails what I wanted. "Don't worry about me. If my twin breaks loose, I'll be here to fend him off."

"Gotcha."

Giving me the O.K., Tails opened the exit door and made a quick exit. _I hope this works,_ I thought as I looked over at the frozen Alternate Leo. During Tails' moment of remembrance, though, he had managed to weaken the ice, and at once he broke through it.

Alternate Leo looked around. "Tails? Tails, where are you? Why'd you abandon me like this?" He took out the Tails phone. "This must be what Leo used to contact Tails. I bet it'll work for me, too."

As Alternate Leo activated the Tails phone and waited for him to pick up, a telephone-looking device beeped from across the room. My duplicate didn't notice it, so I sidled over to it and picked up.

I barely had a chance to speak before Alternate Leo's voice came over the phone. "Tails, where did you go? That robotic idiot is still at large!"

Thinking quickly, I did my best imitation of Tails' voice. "I, er, I left to get some reinforcements. Could you check the back window and watch for me?" I surprised even myself at how well I was able to imitate Tails; perhaps there was a voice recorder in this robotic body of mine?

Alternate Leo took the bait. He rushed over to the back window and peered out. I immediately seized him and threw him to the floor, where I prepared to burn his feathers with another blast of flame.

"Wait," Alternate Leo interrupted. "Think about what you're doing. Remember, I'm using your body, and you're using mine. If you cause any physical harm to me, you're actually harming yourself!"

I hated to admit it, but he was right. I didn't back down, though. "Aren't you forgetting something, though? The reverse applies as well. Any physical harm you cause to me is actually caused to you. You didn't realize that when you shot the Bolt Feather, did you?"

He couldn't speak, so I continued. "So spill it. Where is Sonic? Dr. Eggman has him captured, but where is he? If you don't speak up, I intend to cause some not-so-physical harm to you!"

After a moment, Alternate Leo spoke up. "I won't like it, but I'll tell you. Dr. Eggman is holding Sonic in the Death Egg III, which is currently in orbit above Emerald Town. There's no easy way up to it."

At that moment, the door flew open. Tails was back.

-

I can't believe how long this chapter turned out to be. I guess that's the power of writing.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"But sir, the prisoner is-" "SHUT UP AND HELP ME FIX THIS THING!"

-Arrogance-revealing dialogue exchange, _How_, Ch. 1 


	26. The Finale Begins

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: Sorry it took so long. It takes me about a week to write a chapter, and I'm not sure why.

-

Chapter 26: The Finale Begins

-  
Slowly, Alternate Leo and I both turned our heads to look at the open door. I was right; Tails had returned. "I came here as soon as I could," Tails explained. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know about this guy, but I'm okay," I responded. "Did you bring him?"

Tails nodded. "Right here."

At that moment, a familiar figure entered behind Tails. I knew who he was: Skyler the Wolf.

"What is the meaning of this?" Alternate Leo demanded to know. "Is this wolf one of your so-called friends?"

"Yes, he is," I shot back. "He's my way out of that body-switch trick of yours."

Alternate Leo growled. "There's nothing he can do to help you!"

"Well, I'd say you're the one who needs help now," I quipped, knocking Alternate Leo's head against the ground. The impact knocked him senseless, and I knew he wouldn't struggle any more until we were done with him.

Skyler walked up to us. "Tails told me everything I needed to know. He came to the right place, I can tell you that. Just follow my instructions, and our problem will be fixed in no time."

"That may be true," I explained, "but I have to tell Tails something important first. I managed to interrogate my twin here and find out where Sonic is being held. It's the Death Egg III."

"Death Egg who?" Skyler asked.

"Death Egg III," I repeated. "It orbits above Emerald Town. It won't be easy reaching it, unless Tails has a plan."

"Before we worry about my plans," Tails commented, "let's concentrate on Skyler's. We need you and your double fixed P.D.Q.!"

I saluted. "Right! What do we do first?"

Smirking, Skyler pointed his finger in a smooth motion, and a cloud formed instantly in front of the four of us. As he was doing that, he barked instructions to Tails and me.

I picked up Alternate Leo and fumbled with him until he was curled up into a ball. That finished, I passed Alternate Leo over to Tails, who held him as I jumped up, got some extra height from my wing-jets, and landed on top of Skyler's cloud.

Skyler clapped his hands. This was my signal. I jumped into the air, curling into a ball as I did. As Skyler clapped again, Tails threw Alternate Leo overhand. Both of me burst through the cloud at the same time.

"Glad that's all done," Tails commented. "Leo, you'd better get some rest. I'll join you just as soon as I'm done with my analysis of the Death Egg III."

I agreed, and made a move for the bed. As I did, Skyler turned to Tails and asked one more question: "Tails, what in the world is a P.D.Q.?"

"P.D.Q.," Tails explained. "Pretty Damn Quick. Sort of like ASAP."

That night, I had an interesting dream. There was a vision of the seven Chaos Emeralds, enlarged to the point that they could be stood on. Standing on each in turn were Tails, Nack, W.T., Skyler, Lightning, Kitty, and myself.

The Emeralds whirled around in a circle as the seven of us all said one thing together, and this was it: "Seven Emeralds, seven heroes. The moment of truth will come at the moment of despair."

I remember it distinctly. Kitty was on the gray Emerald, Lightning had the yellow one, Skyler's was blue, W.T.'s was cyan, Nack's was purple, Tails' was green, and the one I was standing on was red. It was all amazing.

Was the dream some kind of premonition? I don't know, but it did remind me of that faithful quote that Kitty had told me. It had come from Knuckles the Echidna himself, so there had to be some significance in it somewhere.

I don't remember what I dreamed for the remainder of that night, but when the morning came, Tails woke me. He looked like he had been abruptly woken himself; his fur looked messed up, and he had a little trouble keeping his eyes open.

As for Skyler, he was gone. Obviously he'd made a return to the skies, since he was no longer needed.

"I think I know how we can get you up to that Death Egg III place," Tails explained. "I've used some blueprints to prepare a warp transporter that will deposit you in the docking bay of the Death Egg III. I'm afraid I can't get you any closer to the inner sanctum."

"It's all right," I assured Tails. "I think I can make it from there."

"Well, okay. I'll get the transporter pad ready."

In a few minutes, everything was ready. The warp transporter, a large pedestal-like device, was set up in the center of the room. Lights were flashing on a control panel attached to the thing, and Tails was at the controls.

"All right, Leo, stand on the center of the pedestal and keep your wings closed," Tails instructed. I complied, and watched Tails press buttons in sequence.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a deactivated Metal Leo in the corner of the room. Tails must have removed his power supply. I smirked to myself as I looked at it.

Tails pulled a lever, and a circle of light surrounded me as the warp transporter hummed to life. Just to be stylish, I struck a pose with my fist in the air and one foot raised. Noticing this, Tails grabbed a camera and snapped a photo of me. (I didn't get a good look at the photo until later.)

As a finale, bright light suddenly filled the room, and I had to flinch. When I recovered, the area I was in was definitely not Tails' lab. It was much larger, and there were many spaceships scattered around. This was most definitely the spaceship hangar of the Death Egg III.

Looking at the spaceships, I observed that most of them seated only one person. There was one which could seat about six people my size, plus the driver. But that wasn't any of my concern right now.

What WAS my concern was finding Dr. Eggman. There had to be an exit, and there was: a metallic door on the far wall. I calmly approached it and attempted to get it open.

It wasn't that easy, though. The door was passcode-protected, and I would never be able to guess the code. Before I could think much about the situation, I heard something on the other side of the room.

As an experiment, I knocked on the door, making a loud noise, and immediately hid behind a spacecraft. Two security robots emerged from the door to investigate, saw nothing, and retreated. I slipped in behind them, making it just in time. Had I been a second slower, I would've been less half a wing.

-

Okay, that's all for now.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"At that moment, you-know-who did you-know-what. And you-know-who didn't notice Clover's handcuffs when he did you-know-what. And you know what happened."  
-Narrator, _Training_, Ch. 1 


	27. Death Egg III

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: Nail Strafer seems to have lost interest in this story. Oh, well. I don't need everyone to review my stories.

-

Chapter 27: Death Egg III

-

As soon as I slipped through the doorway, I noticed that the hallways were filled with robots. There was no way I would ever be able to fight them all at once, so I just had to slip by them undetected. It didn't look easy, though; there were hundreds of them.

Acting on a sudden idea, I jumped up and opened my wings, silently hovering above the floor. I then changed my wing speed to rise up above all the robots and silently cling to the ceiling. None of the robots ever looked up, so I was safe for the moment.

Quickly but carefully, I made my way across the ceilings of the hallways. Avoiding detection as I continued was both harder and easier than I expected. It was only a matter of keeping my wings moving and pausing to rest every now and then.

At one point I had a very close call. As I was about to cut through a doorway, one of my feathers escaped from my wing and began to dance about as it descended to the ground. I didn't notice it until I glanced over my shoulder.

_Oh, no!_ I thought. _If a robot finds that thing, I'm busted!_ I managed to pinch the feather with less than seconds to spare. After pausing to breathe a sigh of relief, I proceeded.

Still, Dr. Eggman had somehow figured out that someone was snooping around. A sudden P.A. announcement caught my attention: "Attention all robots: I suspect that there's an intruder somewhere in the Death Egg III. If you notice anything suspicious, notify me ASAP. I'll be in the mechanics lab, right next door to Sonic's holding cell. That is all."

After hearing this announcement, I knew three things. One: I knew that the robots would be more alert now. Two: I knew that being classified as an "intruder" was somehow flattering. And three: I knew where Dr. Eggman and Sonic were. At least, I knew the name of the location they were in. I had no idea where the mechanics lab was, though.

Unfortunately, the halls of the Death Egg were like a maze. There was no telling what was where or which room was what or who was going where or when or why or how. It was so confusing, I felt dizzy just thinking about it. To boot, there were no visitors' maps of the place.

An idea came to mind, though. A few more robots passed underneath me. I dropped one of my feathers, and it danced as it descended to the floor. By pure chance, it landed right in the face of one of the robots.

The robot in question retrieved the feather and examined it. It didn't say anything, but I knew that it was going to bring it to Dr. Eggman as a clue to the intruder.

As the robot changed direction, I followed it, keeping my attention on it at all times. It opened a few doors, and I flew through them, taking extreme care not to get noticed by any other robots.

It worked well until one door closed too quickly for me to get through it, and I almost hit my head on the closed door. I had to wait until another robot came through the door before I could get through it, and by the time I did, the robot I'd dropped the feather to had escaped.

Not one to give up easily, I looked around in the hopes that I was close to the mechanics lab. Unfortunately, I wasn't, so I dropped another feather. Another robot found it, examined it, and started toward Dr. Eggman to present the feathery piece of evidence to the doctor.

Just minutes later, another P.A. announcement shook me up: "Attention all robots. I have now determined the identity of the intruder mentioned in the announcement. He is Leo, the same robin who caused so much trouble for me the last couple of days. He's mostly red, but parts of his body are dyed different colors. Keep an eye out for him.

"I came to that conclusion because robot W-3279 found one of his feathers in Sector F, and I was able to positively ID them. If you find any other feathers, there is no need to bring them to me, but remember where you found them. That is all." By the time Dr. Eggman hung up, I felt like my wings were made of lead.

The robot I'd dropped the second feather to turned around and went back to his business, leaving me stranded. Luckily, there hadn't been much of a gap between the two robots, which meant that the mechanics lab was somewhere very close by.

Examining my immediate vicinity, I peeked around a corner. There was a doorway in the far wall with a staircase leading down. A plate on the doorway read MECHANICS LAB. No question about it: this was the place.

Right next to the doorway, I spotted something that looked like a prison cell. I got closer, and saw that the bars were solid steel, and that they were scratched a little, as if someone had tried to saw through them and failed miserably.

In the corner, I could see someone I recognized instantly. "Sonic!" I called out. Sonic didn't respond. I repeated my call, and he still didn't notice me, so I decided to try another approach.

Fumbling around my leg, I recovered an Ice Feather which I nocked on my wing, pulled back, and shot through the bars. It hit its target directly, causing Sonic to jump so high he almost hit his head on the ceiling. He rushed over and confronted me.

"Hey, who are you?" Sonic asked.

"Leo," I explained. "You're Sonic, right? Tails sent me to come rescue you."

"I'm glad, but there's no way to open this cell. The lock is electronic, and Dr. Eggman has the only keycard to open it. He's in the mechanics lab, so if you think you can take him down, I'd be really grateful. I don't think it'll be easy, though."

"If I couldn't do anything that wasn't easy, I wouldn't have made it this far. See you, Sonic. The doc is going down." With that, I turned my attention to the doorway to the mechanics lab.

I silently entered the room. Dr. Eggman was working on a huge mechanical … thing. Apparently this was one of his kooky "boss fight" contraptions. How he'd ever get it out of the room was beyond me, but then again, the room was large and spacious enough for use as an arena.

Slowly, I began down the staircase that led to the floor. At the bottom, I found a small control panel that was used to retract the staircase, which I did. That way, Dr. Eggman couldn't get away from me or summon reinforcements.

The noise of the staircase retracting caught Dr. Eggman's attention. He whirled around angrily and spotted me. "Leo!" he greeted me jokingly. "So delightful to see you again! I should've brought chips and dip!"

"I don't know about the chips," I quipped in response, "but the only dip in this room is you. Hand over the keycard for Sonic's cell!"

"I'll do no such thing," the doctor shot back as he reached over and started up the huge mechanism he'd just finished building. I almost fainted as I looked at the thing.

"You're impressed, aren't you?" Dr. Eggman explained as he climbed into the cockpit. "This is the Egg Dragon, my latest creation. It was made specially to get rid of pests such as yourself. I designed it to have absolutely no weaknesses."

"No weaknesses?" I repeated, nervously brushing some loose feathers off my arm. I don't know when I picked up that habit, but I did somewhere.

"No weaknesses," the doc confirmed, "not even those yellow bug-zapper feathers of yours. And the cockpit is protected by ultra-strong glass which can't be damaged by anything you can throw at me."

"We'll see about that," I hissed. My wings were open, my feet were braced against the ground, and I held up my fists in a fighting pose. "Let's dance!"

-

Yeah, yeah, you know what goes here.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"The scan was 61 percent complete when a shot knocked me down. Another one of those blasted Mega Turrets, left over from a recent Space Pirate investigation of the planet, had shot at me."  
-Narrator, _Hunters_, Ch. 1 


	28. VS Egg Dragon

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: I think my chapters are coming more quickly now. Well, here's the next chapter. And it's too late to do end-of-chapter reviews for this story now. I'll do it in the sequel, though. Oh, but Nail Strafer's review was particularly long and in depth, so I'll review it by which chapter he commented on.

23rd chapter: Actually, Tails DID get the fire property. How do you think those documents got set on fire during the fight?

24th chapter: You must've missed it. Leo told Tails about his pursuits in the mine back in the chapter where Leo got the Bolt Feathers. I guess you missed it because you were skimming for mentions of the sensors themselves.

25th chapter: I never said that A. Leo hadn't hit Tails on the head to subdue him before Leo had entered. I must admit, though, having Tails remember everything just by looking at the title of a book and remembering something Leo said is a little … what's the word I'm looking for?

26th chapter: I believe Tails deactivated him … unless I accidentally left that part out.

27th chapter: Well, don't you think the doc would want to examine that feather himself? How else would he know that it was one of Leo's? Of course, there really isn't anyone else in the story who has any feathers to drop… man, I hate it when this happens.

-

Chapter 28: VS Egg Dragon

It's at this point that I'd like to elaborate on my description of the Egg Dragon. It was built like a giant metallic dragon, with head and arms and tail and even metallic dragon wings fitted with jet engines. The cockpit resided in the Egg Dragon's forehead.

Also, the Dragon was completely waterproof, as was the room the two of us were in. I gasped as I glanced at the Dragon's belly, because it was equipped with seven polygonal slots, and locked inside them were none other than the seven Chaos Emeralds.

"All right, let's dance," Dr. Eggman retorted as the Egg Dragon began to rise. "What kind of dance did you have in mind?"

I removed a Bolt Feather from my arm. "Well, I know a little ditty that goes like this!" Without warning, I put the feather to my wing and shot it directly at one of the Egg Dragon's joints.

The feather almost made it to its target, but it didn't. Just when it was about to connect, it was repelled by something, lost its momentum, and fluttered to the ground. I retrieved the feather and examined it; it was not damaged.

A short silence overtook me as I thought about what had happened. _How did-? Okay, that won't work. What else can I try? The Egg Dragon has to have a weak point …_

Getting up, I took a running start and leaped into the air, aiming a diving kick directly at the Egg Dragon's shin. I expected to hit metal, but I was suddenly thrown into the air by apparently nothing and sent tumbling to the ground.

Dr. Eggman laughed out loud. "I can't believe you! I told you that you can't damage the Egg Dragon, and you have to try before you can be sure! The Egg Dragon is protected by an invisible force field that repels everything you can throw at me!"

Now it was the Egg Dragon's turn to attack. It bent down and breathed a blast of fire at me. Leaping out of the way, I counter-attacked with an Ice Feather, which almost extinguished its flame but was repelled by the same invisible force field.

Two target-seeking missiles launched from the tip of the Egg Dragon's tail. I flew down under the Egg Dragon, expecting the missiles to hit the Egg Dragon in the head. They did, but like my attacks, they did absolutely no damage to the thing.

_Dr. Egghead was right,_ I thought as I dodged another blast of fire. _Nothing I've tried does any damage at all, and it's all thanks to that stupid force field. I had better change my strategy, or I'll get wasted._

The jets on the Egg Dragon's wings started, and it rose twenty feet above me. I maneuvered under it and cut up to its side, attempting to land on its back. It would've been more successful if that stupid force field hadn't thrown me off.

CLANG! I was thrown directly into the left wing of the Egg Dragon. I remained stuck on it until I managed to dislodge myself. You can imagine how frustrated I was to be thrown away like a piece of dust.

I hovered above the Egg Dragon, dodging missiles, fiery breath and even a few laser blasts from its eyes, while I thought about how I could do damage to the monster. The force field surrounded the Egg Dragon completely, except for the wings. The wings!

Landing on the right wing of the Egg Dragon, I examined it for a place where it was vulnerable. My search led me to the jet engines that kept the Egg Dragon in the air, but even they were invulnerable to any of my moves.

Taking a moment to think about what I could do, I forgot about the Egg Dragon's attacks for a moment. That moment was sufficient time for the Dragon's tail to launch a missile at me. I did a backflip, and the missile merely hit the Dragon's wing.

The blow to the Dragon's wing, luckily, destroyed the engine on that wing. Realizing that I'd discovered a weakness to the Egg Dragon, Dr. Eggman was furious. The other wing went the same way, and the Egg Dragon was grounded quickly.

Being grounded, unfortunately, didn't put the Egg Dragon out of commission. What's worse, now there were no parts of the Dragon that were outside the force field that protected it, so it was practically invincible.

Dr. Eggman pulled a lever, and the Dragon swiped at me with its powerful claws. It took lightning-quick reflexes to dodge the swipe, but I made it, though not without crashing into a toolbox resting on a bench.

As the Egg Dragon charged up, I grabbed a wrench from the toolbox and tried to shield myself. Two fierce-looking lasers shot from the Egg Dragon's eyes, reflected off the wrench, and struck a chair. Curiously, the chair was unharmed.

I took out the Tails phone. "Tails! Help! Mayday! S.O.S.! I'm in the Death Egg III's mechanics lab. Dr. Eggman is using this huge contraption called the Egg Dragon, and it's practically invincible! I'm really getting beat up here! S.O.S.! S.O.S.! S.O.-"

The Egg Dragon swiped its claws at me again. I jumped up, dropping the wrench and the Tails phone, and hovered out of the claws' reach, not noticing that the Dragon was charging up its laser attack again … until it was too late.

ZAP! I noticed the lasers just in time to get hit by them. I was electrified for a moment, and finally the lasers stopped, and I fell like a stone, crashing into a pile of tools.

By now I was furious. "That was a cheap shot, Dr. Egghead! Now it's time for payback!" I jumped out of the pile of tools and attempted to fly up to the Dragon, but nothing happened, and I crashed to the floor again.

"What the-?" I attempted to shoot a feather at the Dragon's mouth, but my hand caught a sleeve instead. The room's walls were reflective, revealing my plight to me: I was back in my human body, with my biking gear and everything.

I turned and glanced at the doctor. "Dr. Eggman! What did you do?"

Dr. Eggman cackled. "Isn't it obvious? I removed that super-powered bird body from you, storing it in the Chaos Emeralds that power the Dragon. Without it, you're powerless! Now prepare to lose your life for good!"

It was nothing I liked to admit, but Dr. Eggman wasn't joking. It was difficult, but I did my best to dodge whatever he threw at me. He had stopped using the beams, but the claws and fiery breath were still devastating.

As I dodged everything, the Dragon managed to get the sleeve of my shirt just below the right shoulder. "Great," I muttered to myself as I looked at the large rip. "That'll take forever to explain to the tailor."

Eventually, I was so worn out that I literally collapsed. The Dragon stood over me. It reared back to use its fiery breath, but just when it looked like I was done for…

"Hold it right there, Doctor!"

-

Well, a little suspense, eh?

Quote of the Chapter:  
"Everything was calm and peaceful, but it didn't stay that way for long."  
-Narrator, _A Ghost of a Chance_, Ch. 1 


	29. Seven Emeralds, Seven Heroes

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: I got my computer back from the repair shop sooner than I expected to. Here's the next chapter; sorry for the delay!  
Now D.M. and N.S. have me torn. N.S. wants Leo to keep his human body, while D.M. wants the bird body back. I hate getting caught in the middle of something like this; there's no way to please everyone, so I have to settle for pleasing myself.  
-  
Chapter 29: Seven Emeralds, Seven Heroes  
-

"What the-?" Both Eggman and I turned to look at the entryway, and we both balked upon seeing who was standing there. It was Tails.

"Looks like we didn't arrive a moment too soon," Tails commented. "I was able to trace the signal of your last call to its source."

"Well, how did you get here so quickly?" I shouted. "And just what do you mean by 'we'?"

Tails turned. "All right, everyone, come on!"

Nack stepped forward, as did W.T., Skyler, Kitty O'Brien, and Lightning Tiger. "What is the meaning of this?" Dr. Eggman demanded to know.

"Don't hold back, Leo," Nack yelled down. "We're here to help you."

"My brother told us everything," W.T. explained. "After what you did for us, we're happy to help you."

Even the Egg Dragon hesitated as I spoke to the crowd. "Thank you, everyone. I would never have made it this far without all of you helping me. Tails, your science improved me in new ways. Kitty, if not for that broadcast of yours, I never would've known to come to that base."

"What about me?" Skyler interjected.

"I didn't forget about you," I shot back. "The fiasco with you atop the Tower of the Sky taught me a valuable lesson: it's not the body that matters; it's the brains behind it."

Kitty jumped. "That's it! I have to take that line down. My viewers will love it!"

Tails swooped down and grabbed me, carrying me back up to the entrance. After giving him my thanks, I looked among my friends. "Listen," I began. "I have a plan that will require everyone's help, but if it succeeds, the Egg Dragon is going down. Here's what we do …"

I explained everything in a low volume, so Dr. Eggman wouldn't hear us. "Just execute your parts of the plan when I call out the numbers," I finished. "All right, let's do this!"

Those words said, Nack leaped down into the room and landed right in front of the Egg Dragon. Tails and W.T. jumped down together, as did Kitty and Lightning (those two were friends by now, I suppose). Skyler was last. I remained up in the entryway.

"One!" I yelled out. Skyler pointed, making a cloud in the middle of the room. "Two!" I followed, and Nack drew his gun and shot a … cork through the cloud, causing it to break and spill rain, just like I planned it.

Soon the room was flooded with a layer of water which was not interrupted by the Egg Dragon's force field, not that Dr. Eggman cared. I bent down to yell to Tails. "Tails! How deep is it?"

"Two inches," Tails yelled back.

This wasn't enough, so I yelled "One!" and "Two!" again. Skyler and Nack repeated their parts of the plan, and the water level increased. "Four inches," Tails yelled.

"Still not enough. One!"

And so it repeated, until I checked the depth again. "One foot, six inches," Tails told me, and that was sufficient, so I called "Three!"

W.T. recognized this as his signal, and he got into the surfboard position he'd used to transport me back in the Cave of Aqua. When Lightning heard my call of "Four!", he jumped on top of W.T.  
My next call was a "Five!" which was W.T.'s cue to get moving. While he was moving, Lightning began to focus his powers and charge up an electrical pulse which levitated between his hands.

Meanwhile, Kitty heard my call of "Six!" and jumped onto an air grate two feet or so above the floor. Her claws were just the thing for clinging to it. "Seven!" prompted Tails to air-lift Nack above the ground, and "Eight!" was Skyler's indication to generate one more cloud and climb atop it.

"All ready!" Lightning suddenly yelled, indicating that his electrical charge was at full power. "Nine!" I responded, and Lightning balanced his charge over one hand while jumping up and using the other hand to grab Kitty's leg.

I didn't ignore W.T. "Ten!" I yelled, giving W.T. his cue to jump out of the water as he approached Skyler. Skyler grabbed W.T. and pulled him on top of the cloud he was standing on.

Now was the time for the finale. "Eleven!" I yelled, and Lightning dropped his charge into the water. Between Tails carrying Nack, W.T. and Skyler on top of Skyler's cloud, and Kitty and Lightning on the air grate, none of us were actually in the water.

The Egg Dragon, on the other hand, was overcome by the electrical pulse, since it was in the water, and the water wasn't kept out by the force field.

The electrification was sufficient to short-circuit the Egg Dragon and deactivate it and its force field. I jumped down once the electricity was dead, and the seven of us salvaged the Chaos Emeralds and the keycard.

"Now THAT is what I call a plan you can count on," Skyler joked. I felt like clobbering him for that one, but I held back.

Taking the keycard, Tails spun his tails and flew back up to Sonic's holding cell. "Don't worry about a thing, Sonic," Tails called, "I'm releasing you!"

Sonic looked up. "TAILS! How's Leo? Is he okay?"

"Well, yes and no… I'll show you when I've got you out."

Tails ran the keycard through the lock. After a few seconds, a red light came on. Confused, Tails tried it again, but nothing happened. After a moment of thinking, Tails realized the problem.

"Rats!" Tails said to himself. "The electrification must have demagnetized the keycard! It'll take a miracle to save Sonic now…"

Meanwhile, we had problems of our own. Dr. Eggman had managed to escape somehow, and on his way out he set the Death Egg III to self-destruct. This was not a good sign.

_Self-destruct sequence activated,_ an electronic voice announced. _Death Egg III will self-destruct in fifteen minutes. All electronic locks will now be automatically released._

Back at Sonic's holding cell, sirens filled the air. The lock suddenly popped open, and Sonic swung open the door.

"I guess that's as good a miracle as any," Tails said with a laugh. "Come on, let's join the others."

As Sonic and Tails jumped down into the mechanics lab, we all greeted them enthusiastically. I nearly hurt my hands when I tried to hug Sonic.

Suddenly, an evil laugh filled the air. Dr. Eggman stood in the door frame. "Are you planning to escape?"

"That was the plan," Skyler replied sheepishly.

"In that case…"

BEEP! Dr. Eggman manually shut the door behind him as he fled. Tails inspected it, but it wouldn't open again.

"Great," Nack muttered. "Now we're trapped in here, and without an alternate escape route, we're finished!"

As if that line were a stage cue, the air grate, which had been weakened by the combined weight of Kitty and Lightning, now fell off, revealing an open air shaft that was big enough to run through.

"Deus ex machina," Sonic joked. "Let's go!"

"Not so fast," I interrupted. "I've got to do something first. Everyone, pass me the Chaos Emeralds." Everyone complied, and I closed my eyes and concentrated my thoughts on them.

While I did this, I heard voices from my companions. "The Chaos Emeralds!" "They're starting to glow!" "I haven't seen anything like this before!" "I have, but not this way!" "I wish my cameraman was here; my viewers would love this!" "Kitty, for Pete's sake! Don't you ever think of anything besides that stupid show of yours?" "Hey, hey, hey, when you're a famous newscaster like I am, you're always thinking about your show."

There was a flash of light, and I knew that the process was complete. I passed the Chaos Emeralds over to Sonic, and examined myself to make sure it'd worked. It had; my feathered bird body was back on me, and I felt excellent.

_Self-destruct will commence in twelve minutes,_ the electronic voice reminded us.

"This is much better," I commented. "Come on, let's get out of here! I saw a multi-seater spaceship in the hangar that should do the trick!"

-  
I think I'll drop it there. I've said more than enough for one chapter.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"The door locked behind me. That was the first hint that something was wrong. The second was when a group of robots approached me."  
-Narrator, _Agent S_, Ch. 1 


	30. Fifteen Minutes of Haste

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: This is silly. I make a chapter to "The Tale of Blaze" and nobody pays attention, but I make a chapter to this story and get three reviews before my computer has time to cool down. Is there a conspiracy going on here? Nevertheless, next chapter.  
-  
Chapter 30: Fifteen Minutes of Haste  
-

The eight of us flooded through the air vent. I forget the exact order, but Kitty and Lightning didn't have anyone between them, and Sonic was right in front of me, with Tails right behind. Skyler was the last one through, and Nack wasn't the first.

Nack was right in front of W.T., and Kitty was right behind the two of them. But that information doesn't concern you. What matters is that when we emerged from the vent, we all landed in a heap in the Death Egg III's control room.

Tails approached the control panel. "Let's see if I can't disable the self-destruct sequence."

We all watched as Tails pushed this and pulled that as fast as he could. He found himself changing the temperature of the rooms, altering the lighting, and even playing playing rock music through the P.A. system, but he couldn't disable the sequence.

_Self-destruct will commence in ten minutes._

"This is no time to fool around!" Nack yelped. "I need- er- WE need to get out of here!"

Sonic kicked down the door that led out of the room, and it clattered to the ground. Beyond, we could see a large storage pit. Several large crates were stacked in and around the bottom of the pit.

A catwalk spanned the room from our position to the door on the far side. Or at least, it used to. For some reason or another, the thing had collapsed. As we looked, W.T. noticed a layer of water over the floor. A nearby water pipe had sprung a leak.

"Leo," Skyler asked, "can you and Tails carry us across?"

"Not all six of you," I explained. "That's too much weight. Is there another way?"

"Oh yes there is," Kitty interrupted. "Just watch me!"

Kitty jumped up and met the water pipe I mentioned a few lines up. With a strong claw swipe, she dislodged the pipe altogether, then scrambled back up to meet the rest of us as water gushed out twelve times as much as before.

The water quickly rose, taking a few large crates with it, until it was level with the entryway. "I guess we'd better use the crates as rafts," Tails decided.

Kitty and Lightning jumped on top of one crate (ever since the fiasco at Alyer Base, I swear those two were always together) while W.T. jumped into the water and started pushing it to the other side.

Sonic, Tails and Skyler rested on another crate. Tails' twin tails made a perfect motorboat engine to glide across the water. Nack was a little hesitant to join me on a third crate, but every minute counted, so he let my wings take care of the thrust.

BANG! Kitty's crate collided with Sonic's crate halfway across, and W.T. lost his grip on the former. Tails almost tumbled into the water, but Skyler made a cloud for him to land on, and everyone was able to continue the trek before my crate joined the jam.

When we all reached the other side, we disembarked and continued. _Self-destruct will commence in seven minutes,_ we were reminded. By now, that thing had begun to get annoying.

The path ended at a shut door, controlled by a nearby control panel. There was no keyboard or anything, just an OPEN/CLOSE button. Sonic pushed the button, but nothing happened.

Confused, Sonic tried again, but nothing again. Finally, Skyler glanced over his shoulder and spotted the problem. Two wires connected the control panel to the door… and one of them was broken.

Lightning's turn to shine came now. He stood in front of the broken wire and put his hands on either side of it, so there was a few inches between them. As he focused his energy, a ball of electricity formed, closing the contacts.

"Now!" Lightning yelled, and Sonic pressed the OPEN button. The door flew open, and we crowded out as the loudspeaker system broadcasted a five-minute warning.

Beyond the door, we found that we'd entered the halls of the Death Egg III. I recognized this part of the area, since I'd been here during my trip to the mechanics lab. As I pointed out, the path back to the hangar was THAT way.

"And then we take this turn up ahead," I called as I led everyone back to the hangar. "Everyone still behind me? Now we go through this doorway…"

Nack kicked down the door that led to the hangar when we got there, and we burst in. I pointed out the multi-seater I'd seen just as the two-minute warning sounded. Time was short; we had to escape as quickly as possible.

Tails took the controls, while I rode shotgun. Sonic, W.T. and Nack sat behind the two of us, and Kitty, Lightning and Skyler sat behind them. Of course, you probably don't care about who sat in what seat, so I won't bother elaborating.

"Let's see," Tails said aloud. "I think I can get us out of here. I just need to press this button… then this one… this one comes next…"

_Self-destruct will commence in thirty seconds._

"Hurry up, Tails," Nack yelped, "or I'll- I mean- we'll never get out of here!"

"I'm working on it! I'm working on it!" Tails shot back.

Tails pushed one final button, and the craft blasted off and shot out of the hangar just as the self-destruct timer hit zero.

KABOOM! The Death Egg III exploded in a brilliant light. We all knew Dr. Eggman had escaped, but this was no time to worry about that. What mattered was that Dr. Eggman's plans were foiled, and that Sonic and everyone else was safe.

"Death Egg III explodes, party of eight escapes in nick of time. That'll be a great news story for my evening show!"

"Kitty, we barely escaped getting blown to atoms. How can you think about something like that now?"

-  
(whew) Thirtieth chapter. Only a few more chapters left.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"17.4 seconds," said Kelly, stopping her stopwatch. "That's longer than usual. She must have a complex plan."  
-_The Fann Girls 2_, Ch. 3 


	31. Last Report

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: Sorry for the delay. Man, this is my longest story yet, and I'm planning a sequel… who'd have thought it'd go this far?

-  
Chapter 31: Last Report  
-

After a few minutes, Tails brought the spaceship down for a landing in the lot behind his lab. "That was a beautiful landing," Skyler commented.

"Aeronautics comes naturally for me," Tails explained. "Everybody out!"

Nack leapt out almost immediately. "I'm going now- so long!"

"What are you doing, Nack?" I yelled to him.

Nack paused. "I'm a loner by nature. I act in the shadows. I can't stick around with you. It just isn't my nature."

Kitty got out of her seat. "You mean you're not going to stick around for the interviews?"

"Sorry, that's just not me." And with that, Nack was gone.

Everyone stared off into the distance, where Nack had run off to. "What a guy," Sonic finally said. "Kinda reminds me of myself."

Tails faced Kitty. "Kitty, did you say something about interviews?"

"Yes," Kitty responded. "The evening news is in half an hour, and I have barely enough time to arrange things. Gotta go!"

Zip! Kitty ran into the distance just as quickly as Nack had gone. "Man," I commented, "doesn't anyone ever bother to say good-bye anymore?"

About half an hour later, Kitty was able to start the news program. The filming was taking place in the Emerald Town park. Kitty stood up front as Tails, Sonic, W.T., Lightning, Skyler, and myself sat together and watched her.

"This is Kitty O'Brien of KBC News here with the evening report," Kitty began. "Today we have an amazing story. A few days ago, Sonic the Hedgehog was captured, and his rescue was almost wholly due to the heroic efforts of one character in particular. His name: Leo."

Kitty continued. "He didn't do it alone, however. A total of six others, including myself, joined in. Let's interview them. First of all, we have Lightning Tiger."

Detaching the microphone from her headset, Kitty held it to Lightning's mouth. "So, Lightning, tell us. What do you intend to do with yourself in the future?"

Lightning folded his arms. "Well, when I discovered that base in the jungle a few months ago, old and abandoned, curiosity got the better of me, and I began to fix it up and see if I could get it running again. I knew a few things about mechanical workings, so it was done rather quickly.

"Before I knew it, I was practically a slave to the base. I was keeping it running twenty-four-seven. I almost completely forgot about the outside world… until I got some unexpected company." As Lightning said that, he gestured at Tails and me.

"I think I'll start getting used to life outside the base again," Lightning finished up. "I guess I have a ways to go."

"Ah, I bet," Kitty agreed, affectionately rubbing her hand over Lightning's arm.

Lightning slapped Kitty's hand away. "Not any more than that, Kitty. Static electricity messes up my abilities."

After that, Kitty identified and posed the same question to the rest of us. Skyler said he'd return to the clouds, Tails and W.T. decided to bury the hatchet and restore their brotherly love, and Sonic mentioned that he'd train some so he wouldn't get captured again.

While Kitty was talking to Sonic, her cameraman laughed a little upon noticing the Chaos Emeralds in Sonic's hands.

Kitty blinked. "What? What's so funny?"

As the cameraman pointed out, there were only five Chaos Emeralds there. Someone had swiped the other two, and it doesn't take Sam Spade to figure out who that someone had been.

"Don't worry about it," Sonic reassured his viewing audience. "He can't get far with them. The Emeralds will be retrieved for sure. Don't worry about a thing."

"Always so calm and collected," Kitty commented. "You're amazing, Sonic. Now, how about you, Leo? What will you do after this?"

I was too busy snickering over the missing Emeralds to notice that Kitty was questioning me. It took a nudge from Sonic to get my attention. "Wha-? Oh, are you asking me?"

"Yes, I am. Oh, I almost forgot something."

Kitty reached into her pocket and held out a sticker with Kitty's picture on it, surrounded by the words I WAS INTERVIEWED BY KITTY O'BRIEN. I proudly took it and pocketed it in my wing for later use.

"Now," Kitty asked again, "what plans do you have for the future?"

For a moment, I was stuck for an answer to Kitty's question. "You know… I never really thought about that. I guess I never did realize that once my adventure was over, there was nothing more to do."

Around then, a heroic vibe hit me for some reason. "But if Dr. Eggman rears his ugly head again, don't fret… I'll be there to flush him and his plans down the drain!"

I waved good-bye to Kitty as my wings shot open, and I flew up in a dazzling loop. I attempted to make a stylish exit, but a tree limb interrupted my move, and I plummeted to the ground like a dead bird. I blacked out shortly after that.

The last thing I remember before completely losing consciousness was a cry of bewilderment and disappointment from Kitty O'Brien.

-

One more chapter. One more chapter, and the story will be over. And I'll make it a good one, too.

Side note to Nail Strafer and Deltoran Merchant: Your "motive" complaint has now been satisfied, I hope.

Quote of the Chapter:  
"Your function as a critic is to show that it is really you yourself who should have written the book, if you had had the time, and since you hadn't you are glad that someone else had, although obviously it might have been done better."  
-Stephen Potter 


	32. What was it?

A Boundary Crossed

Author's note: At long last, this is it. The very last chapter of the story. The one chapter where everything is wrapped up, and the whole thing is settled. The one chapter that no story is complete without. The last cha… okay, okay, I'll get to it!

-

Chapter 32: What was it?

-

…

"Leo? Leo, wake up! Can't you hear my voice?"

I was barely able to open my eyes. When I did, I saw the ceiling of my own room. I was lying in my own bed, with my biking gear on the table next to me. And in addition to that, I was me.

My one-year-younger sister, Kim, was looking at me. "Oh, Leo, thank goodness you're awake. When you didn't come back from your bike ride, I went looking for you and found you out cold in the road."

Sitting up, I thanked Kim. "Well, I'm glad you came for me. How long was I out?"

"As far as I can tell," Kim explained, "about an hour."

An hour? That was impossible! My adventures in and around Emerald Town had taken a few days, at least. It was as if all that had never happened. But it seemed so real. I just couldn't convince myself that it was nothing more than a dream.

"By the way," Kim commented, "that must've been some spill you took. Look- the right sleeve of your shirt is ripped right below the shoulder!"

In a sudden burst of alarm, I looked at my sleeve. It was ripped in exactly the same way that the Egg Dragon had got me.

"Kim," I finally told my sister, "while I was out, I had the wildest dream. Here, let me tell you …"

As I told her everything, Kim listened intently. We both lost track of time, but if I had to guess, I'd say that it took me about forty-five minutes to explain the entire thing.

"And when I awoke," I finally finished up, "I was here. Some story, eh?"

"Yeah, some story. Hey, what's that in your pocket?"

I checked my pants pocket. There were a few red feathers in it. I removed them and examined one, as did Kim. "Whoa," Kim commented, "this isn't like any feather I've ever seen before, and I do bird-watching as a hobby."

"Well, maybe some new bird showed up in our neighborhood," I joked. "Either that, or…"

"Or …?"

I dug through my pockets again. This time, I found a sticker. It had a picture on it, which was a little blurred. Around it there was some barely legible text: "I --S INT---IEW-D BY KI-T- O'BRI-N".

Kim and I glanced at each other. "So that's it," Kim finally said. "Your story was as true as the sky is blue! You're very brave, Leo."

In response, I merely smiled. "Thank you. Tell you what- I'll let you keep one of those red feathers."

"Thanks, Leo. Do you think you'll ever go back?"

"I'm sure of it. There'll always be a part of me there in Emerald Town."

It was then that a bit of pain surged through my head. "Ouch! Kim, I think that concussion is acting up."

"I'd better get you an ice pack," Kim told me. "I'll be right back."

-

THE END

Character credits (in order of appearance):  
Leo (main protagonist): SonicLover  
Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower and Dr. Eggman: SEGA / Sonic Team  
Metal Sonic: SEGA / Sonic Team  
Nack the Weasel a.k.a. Fang the Sniper: SEGA / Sonic Team  
Water Tails: Shadowkiller27  
Skyler the Wolf: SonicLover  
Amy Rose (minor role in Chapter 17): SEGA / Sonic Team  
Kitty O'Brien and Lightning Tiger: SonicLover  
Knuckles the Echidna (mentioned in Chapter 20, but never appears): SEGA / Sonic Team  
Metal Leo: SonicLover / Dr. Eggman  
Various robots: Dr. Eggman  
Egg Dragon: SonicLover / Dr. Eggman  
Kim (Leo's sister): SonicLover

Misc. credits:  
Sonic and related concepts: SEGA / Sonic Team  
"Instability transformation" concept from Chapter 1: SonicLover  
Various support and criticism: Deltoran Merchant, Nail Strafer, and Shadowkiller27

Well, that's that. I had a rollercoaster of fun writing this fic, and it took a lot of twists and turns that even I didn't expect until they came. I hope that everyone who liked this fic will check back for the sequel!

Quote of the Chapter:  
"It's not the body that matters, it's the brains behind it."  
-Leo, _A Boundary Crossed_, Ch. 29 


End file.
